Asked by Randy
Somewhere between Earth and the Moon, gravity from these two bodies on a space pod would canel. Is it closer to the Earth or the Moon? why?
Answers
Answered by
Damon
force on pod proportional to mass of object/distance squared
mass of earth >>mass of moon
therefore distance from moon must be smaller to get same force magnitude from each.
mass of earth >>mass of moon
therefore distance from moon must be smaller to get same force magnitude from each.
Answered by
drwls
It is closer to the moon because the moon has less mass. For the two forces to be equal and opposite, you must have
Mearth/Rearth^2 = Mmoon/Rmoon^2
Therefore Rearth/Rmoon
= sqrt(Mearth/Moon)
which is greater than 1
Mearth/Rearth^2 = Mmoon/Rmoon^2
Therefore Rearth/Rmoon
= sqrt(Mearth/Moon)
which is greater than 1