which pulls harder gravitationally, the earth on the moon, or the moon on the earth? which accelerate more?

Answer 1

The earths pull is gravitationally greater on the moon, and the moons acceleration is great enough, that it is pulling away from earth at roughly one inch per year.

Well I am not trying to pretend, or to sound like a super smart know it all here, but it would seem to me that angular velocities would play a large roll here in this specific scenario, and it is the moon which is in angular velocity orbiting our earth, and since the moon is pulling away from the earth, then I would say that the moon is winning the tug of war.

When I first read this question it seemed to me to be some what tricky, and I personally believe that the equivalence principle is incorrect, therefor the greater the mass the greater the gravitational pull, and the higher the velocity in an orbital plane the greater the break away speed.

Therefor according to me, the Earth pull is Gravitationally greater on the Moon, however with regard given to the mass and density of the moon, combined with the break away velocity with in an orbital plane then the moons pull is acting stronger upon the earth.

However your question only ask for gravitational pull, therefor the response which you choose as best answer, all boils down to your philosophical belief on what seems more logical, Newtonian mechanics, or logic.

Answer 2

Newton's third law says that for every force, there is an equal and opposite counterforce. Meaning...the Moon pulls on the Earth with exactly as much force as the Earth pulls on the Moon. But wait! Isn't the Earth bigger? Yes, and that DOES mean that it pulls on YOU harder than the Moon pulls on YOU, but the gravitational force between the Earth and the Moon is the same any way you look at it.

The equation that calculates that force is F = GMm/r², where G is the gravitational constant (6.67e-11), M and m are the masses (in kg) of the Earth and Moon, respectively, and r is the distance between them in meters. As you can see, it really makes no difference which term you put first - the force is the same.

Now, the acceleration...that's another story. Newton's SECOND law says that the acceleration of an object is proportional to the net force acting on it, but INVERSELY proportional to the object's mass. Although the Earth and the Moon have the same force acting on them toward each other, the Moon has less mass, and therefore experiences more acceleration than the Earth.

Answer 3

Lucas C rocks and he has the correct answer. Newton's third law makes it very clear that the moon pulls on the Earth with the same force the Earth pulls on the moon.

By Newton's second law, F = ma it become apparent that the less massive moon must be accelerated at a greater rate. This would lead to the obvious conclusion that the moon revolves around the Earth.

Answer 4

the moon's pull on the earth is roughly 1/6 the earth's pull on the moon

Answer 5

The earth pulls harder, because larger objects have larger gravitational pull.

Answer 6

Lucas C, he da man!