If the mass of the Earth were to increase while the radius remains constant, wha
Practice Questions
Q1
If the mass of the Earth were to increase while the radius remains constant, what would happen to the gravitational force experienced by an object on its surface?
It would decrease
It would increase
It would remain the same
It would become zero
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
If the mass of the Earth were to increase while the radius remains constant, what would happen to the gravitational force experienced by an object on its surface?
Step 1: Understand that gravitational force depends on mass and distance.
Step 2: Recall the formula for gravitational force: F = G * (m1 * m2) / r^2, where F is the gravitational force, G is the gravitational constant, m1 is the mass of the Earth, m2 is the mass of the object, and r is the radius of the Earth.
Step 3: Note that in this scenario, the radius (r) of the Earth remains constant.
Step 4: Recognize that if the mass of the Earth (m1) increases, the product (m1 * m2) in the formula will also increase.
Step 5: Since the radius (r) is constant, the increase in mass will lead to an increase in the gravitational force (F).
Step 6: Conclude that if the mass of the Earth increases while the radius remains the same, the gravitational force experienced by an object on its surface will increase.
Gravitational Force – The gravitational force experienced by an object is directly proportional to the mass of the Earth and inversely proportional to the square of the radius of the Earth.
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation – This law states that the force of gravity between two masses is dependent on the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.
