Question

Two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of magnitude 1.01 x 10-8 N when separated by 20.2 cm. If the total mass of the two objects is 5.11 kg, what is the mass of each? heavier mass lighter mass kg kg Need Help?Watch It

Answer 1

The force of attraction is

$\frac{GMm}{r^2}=\frac{6.67\times 10^{-11}Mm}{0.202^2}=1.01\times 10^{-8}$

This gives

$Mm=6.179$

and the total mass is

$M+m=5.11\,kg$

Solving the above two equation gives

$M=3.146\,\,kg$ (heavier mass)

and

$m=1.964\,\,kg$ (lighter mass)