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What is the speed of Q2 when the spheres are 0.400 meters apart?

a) It depends on the mass of the spheres
b) 0 m/s
c) It cannot be determined from the given information
d) Need more information about Q2

User TweeZz
by
8.3k points

1 Answer

2 votes

Final answer:

The speed of Q2 when the spheres are 0.400 meters apart can be determined using the equation for gravitational potential energy, and solving for the speed of Q2 using the given information.

Step-by-step explanation:

The speed of Q2 can be determined using the equation for gravitational potential energy. When two spheres are a distance 'd' apart, the gravitational potential energy between them is given by:

PE = -G * (m1 * m2)/d

Where G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of the spheres, and d is the distance between them. To find the speed of Q2, we can equate the potential energy to the kinetic energy:

-G * (m1 * m2)/d = (1/2) * m2 * v^2

Where v is the speed of Q2. We can rearrange this equation to solve for v:

v = sqrt(-(2 * G * m1)/d)

Therefore, the speed of Q2 when the spheres are 0.400 meters apart can be determined using the given information.

User Mike Elahi
by
8.4k points