Question

When a planet orbits a star, like how the earth orbits the sun, what’s really happening is the gravitational force between the planet and the star is acting as the centripetal force, and the planet undergoes continuous circular motion around the star. Suppose the star has mass m, and the planet is a distance r from the star.

Options:
a. F = G * (m^2 / r)
b. F = G * (m / r^2)
c. F = G * (m * r)
d. F = G * (m / r)

Answer 1

The correct equation for the force between a planet and a star is F = G * (m / r^2), where F is the force, G is the gravitational constant, m is the mass of the star, and r is the distance between the planet and the star.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct option is F = G * (m / r^2).

According to Newton's law of universal gravitation, the force between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers. In this case, the gravitational force between the planet and the star is acting as the centripetal force, keeping the planet in continuous circular motion around the star. So, the correct equation for the force is F = G * (m / r^2), where F is the force between the planet and the star, G is the gravitational constant, m is the mass of the star, and r is the distance between the planet and the star.