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According to Newton's universal law of gravitation, how does the gravitational force between two particles depend on their masses and separation?
AIt grows with the sum of the masses and shrinks with distance squared
BIt shrinks with the product of the masses and grows with distance
CIt grows with the product of the masses and shrinks with distance squared
DIt is independent of both the masses and the distance
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. It grows with the product of the masses and shrinks with distance squared
1. Newton's universal law of gravitation states that every particle attracts every other particle with a force along the line joining them.
2. That force is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
3. A sum of masses, or a force that shrinks with the product of masses, does not match this proportionality.
4. The force is also not independent of mass and distance, since both quantities appear explicitly in the relationship.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation", section 6.5 Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation_
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