Question

How much does the gravitational force of attraction change between two asteroids if the two asteroids drift three times closer together?

Answer 1

Answer:

Increase 9 times

Explanation:

We have Newton formula for attraction force between 2 objects with mass and a distance between them:

$F_G = G\frac{M_1M_2}{R^2}$

where $G =6.67408 \times 10^{-11} m^3/kgs^2$ is the gravitational constant. $M_1, M_2$ is the masses of the 2 objects. and R is the distance between them.

Since the force is inversely proportional to the distance squared, if it is reduced by 3 times, the gravitational force between them would increase by $3^2 = 9$ times