Question

It is seen that a falling apple is attracted towards the Earth. We all know that the apple will also exert an equal and opposite force on the Earth. If so, we don’t see Earth moving towards the apple, why?

• A. The mass of apple is negligibly small compared to that of the Earth
• B. The acceleration produced by the fruit on the Earth would be negligible
• C. Both A & B
• D. Cannot be determined with the given information

Answer 1

The correct option is C

Both A & B

From Newton’s $2^{nd}$ law, we know that acceleration is inversely proportional to mass.
F = ma
Acceleration = $\frac{F}{m}$
The mass of an apple is negligibly small as compared to that of the Earth. So, for same gravitational force, acceleration of the Earth will be very small. Thus, there will be negligible displacement shown by the Earth. However, the apple being a small object with low mass will have considerable acceleration, which is an observable displacement shown by the apple.