Question

maggie is using a computer simulation to measure the force of gravity between two objects. the simulation allows her to change the masses of the objects and the distance between them. a diagram of the two objects is shown below. which of these changes would increase the force of gravity between the two objects? choose 1 answer: a) decreasing the mass of object 1 b) increasing the mass of object 2 c) increasing the distance between the two objects

Explanation:

The formula for gravitational force is \( F = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2} \), where \( F \) is the gravitational force, \( G \) is the gravitational constant, \( m_1 \) and \( m_2 \) are the masses of the two objects, and \( r \) is the distance between them. To increase \( F \), we can increase the masses (\( m_1 \) or \( m_2 \)) or decrease the distance (\( r \)).

• Option A: Decreasing \( m_1 \) would decrease \( F \), so A is incorrect.
• Option B: Increasing \( m_2 \) increases the product \( m_1m_2 \), thus increasing \( F \), so B is correct.
• Option C: Increasing \( r \) would decrease \( F \) (since \( r \) is in the denominator squared), so C is incorrect.

Answer:

B. increasing the mass of object 2