Question

he moon has a mass of 7.35 E 22 kg and is located 3.84 E 8 meters from the earth. Ellen, an earthling, has a mass of 47 kg. Does the moon attract Ellen with a force that is greater than, less than, or the same as, the force with which Ellen attracts the moon? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Answer: The force with which moon attracts Ellen is same as the force with which Ellen attracts Moon.

Explanation:

Gravitational force is attractive in nature. Any two bodies having mass pull each other with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to square of distance between them.

`F= G \frac {Mm}{d^2}`

where G is the gravitational constant.

Force with which Ellen and Moon pull each other:

`F = 6.67 * 10^(-11) N m^2/kg^2* (7.35 * 10^(22) * 47 kg)/((3.84 * 10^8 m)^2) = 1.56* 10^(-3) N`

From Newton's third law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The action-reaction pair act on different bodies.

Hence, the force with which moon attracts Ellen is equal to the force with which Ellen attracts Moon.