Question

A 54 kg mass is separated from a 66 kg mass by 9 meters. what is the magnitude of the gravitational force in newtons on the 54 kg mass?

Answer 1

The gravitational force between two objects is given by:

`F=G (m_1 m_2)/(r^2)`
where
G is the gravitational constant
m1 and m2 are the two masses
r is the separation between the two objects

In our problem,
`m_1 = 54 kg`,
`m_2=66 kg` and
`r=9 m`, so the gravitational force between the two objects is

`F= (6.67 \cdot 10^(-11) m^3 kg^(-1) s^(-2)) ((54 kg)(66 kg))/((9 m)^2) =2.9 \cdot 10^(-9)N`