The distance between Dustin and the planet is larger than the distance between Barb and the planet
Explanation:
The magnitude of the gravitational force between each astronaut and the planet is given by
where :
is the gravitational constant
M is the mass of the planet
m is the mass of the astronaut
r is the separation between the astronaut and the planet
In this problem, we have:
- The force of gravity between Dustin and the planet is 120,265 N
- The force of gravity between Barb and the planet is 354,999 N
We see that the force exerted by the Planet on Barb is much greater than the force exerted by the planet on Dustin. Assuming that the mass of Dustin and Barb is similar, then we can say that the magnitude of the force of gravity depends mainly on the distance:
And since the force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, this means that the distance between Dustin and the planet is larger than the distance between Barb and the planet.
Learn more about gravitational force:
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