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Calculate the force of Earth's gravity on an 8.000000 kg backpack located at thepeak of Mt. Everest (8,849.000 meters above sea level). The mass of Earth is6.000000x1024 kg and the radius of the Earth at sea level is 6.400000x106meters. Note that the Gravitational Constant G = 6.67x10-11 Nm²/kg (but don'tconsider this number when figuring out the significant digits).

User MassDebates
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1 Answer

8 votes
8 votes

Answer:

77.948362 N

Step-by-step explanation:

The force of gravity on an object is given by newton's law of universal gravitation.


F=G(mM_E)/(r^2)

where G = gravitational constant, m = mass of the object, M_E = mass of the earth, and r = distance between the object and the centre of the earth.

Now in our case,

G = 6.67*10^-11 N *m^2 / kg^2

m = 8 kg

M_E = 6.00 * 10^24 kg

r = 8849 + 6.4 * 10^6 m

Therefore,


F=6.67*10^(-11)\cdot((8kg\cdot6.00\cdot10^(24)kg))/((8849+6.4\cdot10^6)^2)
=77.948362N

which is our answer!

User SHiRKiT
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