Question

Explain why doubling the mass of an object doubles its weight, but doubling its distance from the center of Earth reduces its weight fourfold.

a) Weight is independent of mass.

b) Weight is directly proportional to mass.

c) Weight is inversely proportional to distance.

d) Weight is directly proportional to the square of the distance.

Answer 1

Doubling the mass of an object doubles its weight, while doubling its distance from the center of Earth reduces its weight fourfold.

Step-by-step explanation:

Weight is a measure of the force of gravity acting on an object. The weight of an object is directly proportional to its mass, meaning that doubling the mass of an object will double its weight. This is because weight is two times the gravitational force between the object and the Earth.

On the other hand, doubling the distance of an object from the center of the Earth reduces its weight fourfold. This is because weight is inversely proportional to the distance squared between the object and the Earth. Therefore, increasing the distance by a factor of two will decrease the weight by a factor of four.