Home › WAEC WASSCE › Physics › Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation › How does the gravitational force vary with the d…
How does the gravitational force vary with the distance between two particles?
AInversely as the square of the distance
BDirectly as the square of the distance
CInversely as the distance itself
DDirectly as the cube of the distance
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Inversely as the square of the distance
1. The law makes the force proportional to the product of the two masses.
2. It also makes the force inversely proportional to the square of their separation.
3. So doubling the separation cuts the force to a quarter of its former value.
4. This inverse square behaviour is what makes planetary orbits come out as conic sections.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation", section 6.5 Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation_
Related questions
The Moon stays in orbit around the Earth. Which force provides its centripetal force?Why does a centripetal force change a body's direction but never its speed?A stone is whirled on a string in a horizontal circle. What supplies the centripetal forceUnder what condition does an ellipse become a circle?Kepler's third law relates the squares of the periods to which quantity?What does the line from the Sun to a planet sweep out in equal times?What shape does each planet's orbit about the Sun take, and where does the Sun sit?Besides muscle wasting, what else do astronauts lose in microgravity?