Question

The mass of the moon is 7.36×1022kg and its distance to the Earth is 3.84×108m. What is the gravitational force of the moon on the earth?

Answer 1

Answer:

The gravitational force is F =  $2\,*\,10^{20}\,N$

Explanation:

To answer this question we need to recall Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation for the force "F" exerted from one object to the other:

$F=G\,\frac{m_1\,*\,m_2}{d^2}$

where G is the Universal gravitational constant = $6.674\,* \,10^{-11}\,\,\frac{m^3}{kg\,s^2}$

$m_1$, and $m_2$ are the masses of the two bodies/objects attracting each other via gravitational force. In our case, one is the mass of the Earth = $5.972\,*\,10^{24}\, kg$

and the other one,the mass of the Moon = $7.36\,*\,10^{22}\,kg$

and lastly, "d" is the distance between to two objects. In our case:

d =$3.84\,*\,10^8\,m$

Since all these quantities are given in SI units, when we use them in the formula, our answer will result in the SI units of force "N" (Newtons):

$F=6.674\,*10^{-11}\,\frac{5.972\,10^{24}\,7.36\,10^{22}}{(3.84\,10^8)^2} \,N\\F=1.989\,*\,10^{20}\,N$

which can be rounded to: F = $2\,*\,10^{20}\,N$