Question
How would the gravitational pull of the sun change if it were twice as massive?
Question 10 options:
It would decrease by a lot
It would increase by a lot
It might increase a bit, but the sun is so much smaller than the planets it wouldn't make much difference
Question 10 options:
It would decrease by a lot
It would increase by a lot
It might increase a bit, but the sun is so much smaller than the planets it wouldn't make much difference
Answers
GPT-4o mini
If the Sun were twice as massive, the gravitational pull it exerts would also increase. According to Newton's law of universal gravitation, the gravitational force (F) between two masses (m1 and m2) is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance (r) between them:
\[ F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2} \]
If the mass of the Sun (m1) is doubled, the gravitational force (F) will double as well, assuming the distance to the planets remains the same.
Therefore, the correct answer would be:
**It would increase by a lot**.
\[ F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2} \]
If the mass of the Sun (m1) is doubled, the gravitational force (F) will double as well, assuming the distance to the planets remains the same.
Therefore, the correct answer would be:
**It would increase by a lot**.