Question

Describing Influences on Gravity
Which factors determine how much gravity a body in the universe possesses? Check all that apply.

inertia
mass
weight
distance
orbital motion

Answer 1

The factors that determine how much gravity a body in the universe possesses include:

- **Mass**: The greater the mass of an object, the stronger its gravitational pull.
- **Distance**: The gravitational force decreases with the square of the distance between the centers of two masses; as distance increases, gravity decreases.

The other options provided do not directly determine how much gravity a body possesses:

- **Inertia**: This refers to an object's resistance to changes in its state of motion and is not a factor in the determination of gravitational pull.
- **Weight**: Weight is the force exerted by gravity on an object and is dependent on both the object's mass and the gravitational pull it experiences; it does not determine the gravity of the body itself.
- **Orbital Motion**: While this describes the movement of bodies in a gravitational field, it does not determine the amount of gravity a body possesses.

Thus, the correct answers are **mass** and **distance**.