If the distance between two masses is doubled, what happens to the gravitational
Practice Questions
Q1
If the distance between two masses is doubled, what happens to the gravitational force between them? (2020)
It doubles
It halves
It becomes one-fourth
It becomes four times
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
If the distance between two masses is doubled, what happens to the gravitational force between them? (2020)
Step 1: Understand that gravitational force depends on the distance between two masses.
Step 2: Recall the inverse square law, which states that gravitational force decreases with the square of the distance.
Step 3: If the distance between the two masses is doubled, we write this as 2 times the original distance.
Step 4: Calculate the square of the new distance: (2^2) = 4.
Step 5: According to the inverse square law, the new gravitational force is the original force divided by 4.
Step 6: Therefore, the new gravitational force is 1/4 of the original gravitational force.
Gravitational Force and Inverse Square Law – The gravitational force between two masses is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them, meaning that as distance increases, the force decreases significantly.
