Chapter 7, Problem 38A

To determine

The gravitation force between two bowling balls.

Answer to Problem 38A

  $6.489\times {10}^{-8}\text{N}$

Explanation of Solution

Given:

The centers of the bowling balls are located at 21.8 cm.

Mass of the bowling balls is $m=6.8\text{kg}$

Formula used:

Gravitational force:

  $F=\frac{G{m}_1{m}_2}{r^2}$

Where, $G$ is the gravitational constant, $m_1$ and $m_2$ are the masses, and $r$ is the distance between the masses.

Calculation:

The value of gravitational constant is

  $G=6.67\times {10}^{-11}\text{N}{\text{.m}}^{\text{2}}{\text{/kg}}^{\text{2}}$

The distance between the bowling balls is

  $r=21.8\text{cm = }0.218\text{m}$

Then, using the given values of mass of the balls and the distance between them, the gravitational force between the balls will be

  $\begin{array}{c}F=\frac{Gmm}{r^2}\\ =\frac{6.67\times {10}^{-11}\times {\left(6.8\right)}^2}{{\left(0.218\right)}^2}\\ =6.489\times {10}^{-8}\text{N}\end{array}$

Conclusion:

Thus, the gravitational force that the balls exert on each other is $6.489\times {10}^{-8}\text{N}$ .