Answer :
Final answer:
The net gravitational force on a 46.0 kg object placed midway between two objects of masses 195 kg and 495 kg is found using Newton's law of universal gravitation and taking the difference between the forces due to each mass since they act in opposite directions.
Explanation:
To calculate the net gravitational force exerted by two objects with masses of 195 kg and 495 kg on a 46.0 kg object placed midway between them, we use Newton's law of universal gravitation. The formula for gravitational force is F = GMm/r², where F is the force, G is the gravitational constant (6.674×10⁻¹¹ N(m/kg)²), M and m are the masses of the two objects, and r is the separation between them.
First, we calculate the gravitational force between the 195 kg object and the 46.0 kg object, and then separately calculate the force between the 495 kg object and the 46.0 kg object. Since the 46.0 kg object is positioned midway, the distance from each mass will be half of the total separation, which is 0.240 m. After finding these two forces, we take their difference to find the net gravitational force because they are attracting the 46.0 kg object in opposite directions.
