Question

Tom has a mass of 66.2 kg and Sally has a mass of 51.5 kg. Tom and Sally are standing 17.2 m apart on a massless dance floor. Sally looks up and she sees Tom. She feels an attraction. If the attraction is gravitation, find its magnitude. Assume both can be replaced by point masses and that the gravitational constant is 6.67259 x 10⁻¹¹ N. m2/kg-. Answer in units of N.

Answer 1

The gravitational force of attraction between Tom and Sally can be calculated with Newton's law of gravitation using their respective masses and the distance between them.

Step-by-step explanation:

The magnitude of the gravitational attraction between Tom and Sally can be calculated using Newton's universal law of gravitation. This law is represented by the equation F = G × (m1 × m2) / r2, where F is the force of gravity, G is the universal gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects, and r is the distance between the centers of the two masses.

To find the gravitational force of attraction between Tom and Sally, we substitute their masses and the given distance into the equation:

F = (6.67259 × 10−11 N·m2/kg2) × (66.2 kg × 51.5 kg) / (17.2 m)2

Calculating this gives us the force in Newtons (N).