High School

Two masses are 83.0 m apart. Mass 1 is 4.32 kg and mass 2 is 163 kg.

What is the gravitational force between the two masses?

[tex]
\[
\overrightarrow{F} = [?] \times 10^{[?]} \, N
\]
[/tex]

[tex]
\[
\overrightarrow{F} = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2}
\]
[/tex]

Answer :

To solve for the gravitational force between two masses, we use Newton's law of universal gravitation, which is given by the formula:

[tex]\[
F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2}
\][/tex]

Here:
- [tex]\( F \)[/tex] is the gravitational force between the two masses.
- [tex]\( G \)[/tex] is the universal gravitational constant, approximately [tex]\( 6.67430 \times 10^{-11} \, \text{m}^3 \, \text{kg}^{-1} \, \text{s}^{-2} \)[/tex].
- [tex]\( m_1 \)[/tex] and [tex]\( m_2 \)[/tex] are the masses of the two objects.
- [tex]\( r \)[/tex] is the distance between the centers of the two masses.

Given:
- [tex]\( m_1 = 4.32 \, \text{kg} \)[/tex]
- [tex]\( m_2 = 163 \, \text{kg} \)[/tex]
- [tex]\( r = 83.0 \, \text{m} \)[/tex]

To calculate the gravitational force:
1. Multiply the masses of the two objects: [tex]\( m_1 \times m_2 = 4.32 \, \text{kg} \times 163 \, \text{kg} \)[/tex].
2. Divide by the square of the distance between them: [tex]\( r^2 = (83.0 \, \text{m})^2 \)[/tex].
3. Multiply the result by the gravitational constant [tex]\( G \)[/tex].

Following these steps, the calculated gravitational force is expressed in scientific notation as:

[tex]\[
F = 6.82 \times 10^{-12} \, \text{N}
\][/tex]

This means that the gravitational force between the two masses is [tex]\( 6.82 \times 10^{-12} \, \text{Newtons} \)[/tex].