A student claims that the gravitational force between two objects depends upon the mass of the objects and the distance between them. Which argument best supports the student's claim?

The statement "If the distance between two objects increases, the gravitational force between the objects will decrease" best supports the student's claim. This aligns with the inverse square law of gravity which states that the gravitational force between two objects decreases as the distance between them increases.

The correct argument that best supports the student's claim is: "If the distance between two objects increases, the gravitational force between the objects will decrease."

The argument that best supports the student's claim is: "If the distance between two objects increases, the gravitational force between the objects will decrease."

To understand why, we can refer to Newton's law of universal gravitation, which states that the gravitational force between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Mathematically, this can be expressed as:

F = G * (m1 * m2) / r^2

Where F is the gravitational force, G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects, and r is the distance between them.

From this equation, we can see that as the distance, r, increases, the denominator (r^2) becomes larger, leading to a smaller overall value for the force. So, the farther the objects are apart, the weaker the gravitational force between them.