Isaac Newton was one of the most celebrated physicists of the 17th century, often considered the father of Classical Mechanics. Among Newton's many contributions to Physics, the Law of Universal Gravitation stands out, which can be summarized as follows: 'every body attracts any other body with a force directed along the line joining them, whose intensity is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating them.' Therefore, if the distance between Earth and a meteor is halved, the gravitational force exerted by Earth on the meteor will be:

Physics

The correct answer is: will be four times greater. Let's explain why this answer is correct, using Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. The formula that expresses this law is: F = G * m1 * m2 / r^2, where: - F is the gravitational force between the two bodies, - G is the gravitational constant, - m1 and m2 are the masses of the two bodies, - r is the distance between the centers of mass of the two bodies. If the distance r is halved, then the new distance is r/2. Substituting into the formula, we have: F' = G * m1 * m2 / (r/2)^2, F' = G * m1 * m2 / (r^2/4), F' = 4 * G * m1 * m2 / r^2. In other words, the new force F' is four times greater than the original force F, because the squared distance in the denominator decreases four times when the distance is halved. Therefore, the gravitational force increases in inverse proportion to the square of the distance reduction.

Question about Gravitation: Gravitation Problems

Subject Physics

Physics

Source IFRS

IFRS

Topic Gravitation: Gravitation Problems

Gravitation: Gravitation Problems

Difficulty Medium

Medium

(IFRS 2019) - Question Medium of Physics