Question

which of the following are independent of the mass of an object falling freely near earth's surface: (may have more than 1 answer) 1) acceleration of the object 2) gravitational force acting on the object 3) gravitational force acting on the object 4) magnitude of the gravitational field

Answer 1

As the object is falling freely, the acceleration of the object will be equal to the acceleration due to gravity.

It is given as,

`g=(GM)/(R^2)`

Here, G is the univarshal gravitational constant and M is the mass of the Earth.

means acceleration of the object is constant and independent of the mass of the object.

so option 1 is correct.

now the gravitational force on that object is,

`F=(GMm)/(R^2)`

here this is dependent on the mass of the object(m).

NOw the gravitational field means the force per unit mass and is given by,

`E=(GM)/(R^2)`

Here we can se that this gravitational field is also independent of the mass of the object.

So, option 1 and 4 are correct.