Question

Two block of mass $m_1$ and $m_2$ are kept $d$ apart from each other. What happens to the magnitude of the gravitational force $F$ acting on the two blocks, if the distance between the center of the masses is halved?

• A. It is quadrupled
• B. It is doubled
• C. It remain the same
• D. It is halved
• E. It is quartered

Answer 1

The correct option is A It is quadrupled

Distance between the masses initially is $d$.

Gravitational force acting between two blocks of mass $m_1$ and $m_2$ is given by

$F=\frac{G{m}_1{m}_2}{d^2}$

Now the distance between them is halved keeping all the parameters same i.e $d^{\prime }=d/2$

Thus gravitational force $F^{\prime }=\frac{G{m}_1{m}_2}{(d/2{)}^2}=4F$

Thus the force is quadrupled.