Question

An asteroid moves away from our planet. What happens to the gravitational attraction between it and the earth as it zooms away?



(4 points)
Responses

It increases.
It increases.

It decreases.
It decreases.

It becomes zero.
It becomes zero.

It does not change.
It does not change.

Answer 1

It decreases.

By Newton’s law of gravitation F = G M m / r^2, so as the distance r increases the force falls off (inverse-square dependence).