Question

Two objects exert a gravitational force on 8N on one another what would that force be if the mass of both objects were doubled?

Answer 1

Gravitational force of attraction between two objects can be calculated from the following formula:

`F = (m_1 \cdot m_2)/(r^(2))`
Where m with subscript stands for mass of the object and r is the distance between them.
When we double the mass of those two objects, distance between them stays the same, while in the numerator we have:

`2\cdot m_1 \cdot 2 \cdot m_2 = 4\cdot m_1 \cdot m_2`
When numerator in the second case 4 times greater than the 'original' numerator and denominator stays the same, force becomes 4 times greater.