Question

2 objects of masses m1 and m2 exerts a force on each other when they are separated from a distance 'r" . What happens :

1) mass m1 becomes doubled

2) the distance between them becomes r/2

Answer 1

Newton's law of gravitation states that the force of attraction between two bodies of mass m₁ and m₂, kept at a distance r is given as:

$F=\frac{G{m}_1{m}_2}{r^2}$ .......(1)

Where, G is the universal constant with a value 6.67 × 10 ⁻¹¹ Nm ² kg ⁻²
Case 1 :- m₁ = 2 m₁
Hence, by eq. 1, the force will also doubled.
Case 2 :- r = $\frac{r}{2}$
In this case, the force of attraction would become four times of the initial force between the objects.