Two stones lying on the surface of the Earth have mass, a gravitational force will always exist between them and it will try to pull the stones towards each other. But actually, we don’t see the stones moving towards each other, why?
Statement 1: The acceleration because of gravitational force is in the range of 10−12 ms−2.
Statement 2: Stones are lying on a flat surface, so they cannot move.
Statement 3: The force of friction is much higher than the gravitational force.
Statement 4: The stones are irregular in shape, so they cannot move.
Which statements explains the reason for the above question?
Statement 1 and 3 are the reasons
Let’s take an example to understand the question:
Let us consider the mass of each stone as 5 kg. They are separated by a distance of 1 m.
F = GmMr2
F = 6.67×10−11×5×51= 166.67×10−11 N
Thus acceleration due to the above force is Fm = 33.35×10−11 ms−2
Thus acceleration is in the range of 10−11 ms−2, which is very small to cause any motion. Thus, statement 1 is correct. And also, other forces like a force of friction are much higher than the force of gravitation (only in the range of 10−12 N) between them. Therefore, they do not move. Thus, statement 3 is also correct.