Question

Aliens come blasting into our solar system and wipe out everything but the Sun, the Earth, and Jupiter. Discuss (conceptually) where the center of mass of the new, smaller solar system is now roughly located. Why

Answer 1

Answer:

There is no short answer.

Explanation:

In theory, the gravitational pull between the planets depends on their total mass and the distance between them. The sun has a mass of $1.989x10^{30}$ kg, Jupiter has a mass of $1.898x10^{27}$ kg and Earth has a mass of $5.972x10^{24}$ kg.

Earth is closer to Jupiter than it is to the sun. The other planets that are behind jupiter are gone so that means the sun's pulling force's effect on jupiter is increased drastically since there is no force the balance that and that means that jupiter is going to get closer to earth.

The new center of mass of the new solar system is roughly located between earth and the sun, closer to earth.

I hope this answer helps.