Question

According to Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation, when the distance between two interacting objects doubles, the gravitational force is

Answer 1

Answer:

If the distance doubles, the gravitational force is divided by 4

Explanation:

Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation

Objects attract each other with a force that is proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

$\displaystyle F=G{\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{r^{2}}}$

Where:

m1 = mass of object 1

m2 = mass of object 2

r     = distance between the objects' center of masses

G   = gravitational constant: 6.67\cdot 10^{-11}~Nw*m^2/Kg^2

If the distance between the interacting objects doubles to 2r, the new force F' is:

$\displaystyle F'=G{\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{(2r)^{2}}}$

Operating:

$\displaystyle F'=\frac{1}{4}G{\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{r^{2}}}$

Substituting the original value of F:

$\displaystyle F'=\frac{1}{4}F$

If the distance doubles, the gravitational force is divided by 4