If the mass of planet Earth doubled, how would the force of gravity between Earth and the Sun change?(1 point)ResponsesThe force of gravity  would not changeThe force of gravity  would not changeThe force of gravity would doubleThe force of gravity would doubleThe force of gravity would increase four timesThe force of gravity would increase four timesThe force of gravity would decrease by half

1 answer

The gravitational force between two objects is given by Newton's law of universal gravitation, which states:

\[ F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2} \]

where:

  • \( F \) is the force of gravity between the two objects,
  • \( G \) is the gravitational constant,
  • \( m_1 \) and \( m_2 \) are the masses of the two objects, and
  • \( r \) is the distance between the centers of the two objects.

If the mass of the Earth (let's call it \( m_1 \)) doubles, then the new force of gravity between the Earth and the Sun would be given by:

\[ F' = G \frac{(2m_1) m_2}{r^2} \]

This shows that the force of gravity would also double because the only change in the equation is the mass of the Earth, which is now \( 2m_1 \).

Therefore, the answer is:

The force of gravity would double.