What happens to the gravitational force between two masses if one mass is triple
Practice Questions
Q1
What happens to the gravitational force between two masses if one mass is tripled?
It triples
It doubles
It remains the same
It increases by a factor of 9
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What happens to the gravitational force between two masses if one mass is tripled?
Step 1: Understand that gravitational force depends on two things: the masses of the objects and the distance between them.
Step 2: Remember the formula for gravitational force: F = G * (m1 * m2) / r^2, where F is the force, G is a constant, m1 and m2 are the masses, and r is the distance between them.
Step 3: If one mass (let's say m1) is tripled, it becomes 3 * m1.
Step 4: Substitute the new mass into the formula: F' = G * (3 * m1 * m2) / r^2.
Step 5: Notice that the new force F' is three times the original force F, because F' = 3 * (G * (m1 * m2) / r^2) = 3 * F.
Step 6: Conclude that if one mass is tripled, the gravitational force also triples.