Question

practice it!
a baseball has 5 times more mass than a golf ball. the distance between them is 0.25 meters.
if the baseball were replaced with another golf ball, and the distance between them was unchanged, what would happen to the attractive force between them?
it would be greater.
it would be equal.
it would be less.
there would no longer be an attractive force.

Explanation:

Step1: Recall Gravitational Force Formula

The gravitational force between two objects is given by \( F = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2} \), where \( G \) is the gravitational constant, \( m_1 \) and \( m_2 \) are the masses of the two objects, and \( r \) is the distance between them.

Step2: Analyze Initial and New Situations

• Let the mass of the golf ball be \( m \). Then the mass of the baseball is \( 5m \). Initially, \( m_1 = 5m \), \( m_2 = m \), and \( r = 0.25 \) m. So initial force \( F_1 = G\frac{(5m)(m)}{r^2}=G\frac{5m^2}{r^2} \).
• After replacement, both objects are golf balls, so \( m_1 = m \), \( m_2 = m \), and \( r \) remains \( 0.25 \) m. New force \( F_2 = G\frac{(m)(m)}{r^2}=G\frac{m^2}{r^2} \).

Step3: Compare \( F_1 \) and \( F_2 \)

We can see that \( F_2=\frac{1}{5}F_1 \), which means the new attractive force is less than the initial one.

Answer:

It would be less.