Question

How does the force of gravitation, between two bodies change when the distance between them is reduced to half?

• A. It is halved
• B. It is doubled
• C. It is quadrupled
• D. It remains unaffected

Answer 1

The correct option is C It is quadrupled

Let the mass of the two bodies be $M_1\&M_2$

Let the distance between them is R

$\therefore F=\frac{G{M}_1{M}_2}{R^2}$

If R=r/2

then $F^1=\frac{G{M}_1{M}_2}{R^2/4}=\frac{4G{M}_1{M}_2}{R^2}=4F$

Thus if the distance between the 2 bodies is reduced to half, the force of gravitation is quadrupled.