A sphere of copper has a radius of 50.0 cm and a mass of 4690 kg. A sphere of unknown metal has a radius of 30.0 cm. The surfaces of the spheres are 20.0 cm apart. The force of gravitational attraction between the two spheres is 0.372 mN. What is the mass of the unknown metal?
Gravitational force
In nature, every object is attracted by every other object. This phenomenon is called gravity. The force associated with gravity is called gravitational force. The gravitational force is the weakest force that exists in nature. The gravitational force is always attractive.
Acceleration Due to Gravity
In fundamental physics, gravity or gravitational force is the universal attractive force acting between all the matters that exist or exhibit. It is the weakest known force. Therefore no internal changes in an object occurs due to this force. On the other hand, it has control over the trajectories of bodies in the solar system and in the universe due to its vast scope and universal action. The free fall of objects on Earth and the motions of celestial bodies, according to Newton, are both determined by the same force. It was Newton who put forward that the moon is held by a strong attractive force exerted by the Earth which makes it revolve in a straight line. He was sure that this force is similar to the downward force which Earth exerts on all the objects on it.
A sphere of copper has a radius of 50.0 cm and a mass of 4690 kg. A sphere of unknown metal has a radius of 30.0 cm. The surfaces of the spheres are 20.0 cm apart. The force of gravitational attraction between the two spheres is 0.372 mN. What is the mass of the unknown metal?
Given:
The mass of copper sphere is m=4690 kg.
The distance between copper sphere and unknown metal is r=20 cm.
The gravitational force is F=0.372 mN.
The expression for mass (M) of unknown metal is:
Here, G is the gravitational constant whose value is 6.67X10-11 N-m2/kg2.
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