Question

he moon has a mass of 7.35 E 22 kg and is located 3.84 E 8 meters from the earth. Ellen, an earthling, has a mass of 47 kg. Does the moon attract Ellen with a force that is greater than, less than, or the same as, the force with which Ellen attracts the moon? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Answer: The force with which moon attracts Ellen is same as the force with which Ellen attracts Moon.

Explanation:

Gravitational force is attractive in nature. Any two bodies having mass pull each other with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to square of distance between them.

$F= G \frac {Mm}{d^2}$

where G is the gravitational constant.

Force with which Ellen and Moon pull each other:

$F = 6.67 \times 10^{-11} N m^2/kg^2\times \frac{7.35 \times 10^{22} \times 47 kg}{(3.84 \times 10^8 m)^2} = 1.56\times 10^{-3} N$

From Newton's third law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The action-reaction pair act on different bodies.

Hence, the force with which moon attracts Ellen is equal to the force with which Ellen attracts Moon.