Suppose a 4000 kg elephant is hoisted 20m above Earth's surface. What will be the elephant's gravitational potential energy?
1 answer:
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Answer:
F = 0.00156[N]
Explanation:
We can solve this problem by using Newton's proposed universal gravitation law.
Where:
F = gravitational force between the moon and Ellen; units [Newtos] or [N]
G = universal gravitational constant = 6.67 * 10^-11 [N^2*m^2/(kg^2)]
m1= Ellen's mass [kg]
m2= Moon's mass [kg]
r = distance from the moon to the earth [meters] or [m].
Data:
G = 6.67 * 10^-11 [N^2*m^2/(kg^2)]
m1 = 47 [kg]
m2 = 7.35 * 10^22 [kg]
r = 3.84 * 10^8 [m]
This force is very small compare with the force exerted by the earth to Ellen's body. That is the reason that her body does not float away.