Question

the gravitational force between two asteroids is 500 N. what would the force be if the distance between the double

Answer 1

We have that the formula for the gravitational force is:
`F= (Gm_1 m_2)/(r^2)`.

Suppose now that their distance is R, their masses M and m and suppose their distance becomes 2R
500N=GMm/R^2.
We want to calculate GMm/(2R)^2=GMm/4R^2. We know from the first equation though what this is; this is 500/4=125 N. Thus, the power between them is 1/4th of the power they had at the initial distance.