Question

2 spaceships are in deep space. The distance between the centers of mass of the two spaceships is 300 m, and the force between them is 5.51×10^-7N. If one spaceship has a mass of 24,000 kg, what is the mass of the other spaceship?

Answer 1

Mass of the second spaceship is 3.10 × 10⁴ kg 0r 31000 kg

Step-by-step explanation:

From Newton's law of universal gravitation, the force of attraction , F, between two bodies is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square root of the distance between them.

F = Gm₁m₂/d²

m₁ = 24000 kg

m₂ = ?

d = 300 m

F = 5.51 × 10⁻⁷ N

Gravitational constant, G = 6.67 × 10⁻¹¹ N.m²/kg²

Making m₂ subject of the formula : m₂ = F × d² / G × m₁

m₂ = 5.51 x 10⁻⁷ × 300 × 300 / 6.67 × 10⁻¹¹ × 24000

m₂ = 3.1 × 10⁴ kg

Therefore, Mass of the second spaceship is 31000 kg