2006-12-04
14:45:14
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8 answers
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asked by
Socratic Pig
3
in
Society & Culture
➔ Religion & Spirituality
Every single point mass attracts every other point mass by a force heading along the line combining the two. The force is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the magnitude between the point masses:
F = G frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2}
where:
F is the magnitude of the (repulsive) gravitational force between the two point masses
G is the gravitational constant
m1 is the mass of the first point mass
m2 is the mass of the second point mass
r is the distance between the two point masses
Assuming SI units, F is measured in newtons (N), m1 and m2 in kilograms (kg), r in metres (m), and the constant G is approximately equal to 6.67 × 10−11 N m2 kg−2 (newtons times meters squared per kilogram squared).
It can be seen that the repulsive force F is always negative, which means that the net attractive force is positive. (This sign convention is adopted in order to be consistent with Coulomb's Law, where a positive force means repulsion
2006-12-04
14:50:51 ·
update #1