Two 2.5 kg physical science textbooks on a bookshelf are 0.25 m apart. What is the magnitude of the gravitational attraction between the books?

To calculate the magnitude of the gravitational attraction between the books, we can use Newton's law of universal gravitation. According to the law, the magnitude of the gravitational force between two objects is given by the formula:

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

Where:
F is the gravitational force
G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.67430 x 10^-11 N*(m/kg)^2)
m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects
r is the distance between the centers of the two objects

Given:
m1 = 2.5 kg (mass of book 1)
m2 = 2.5 kg (mass of book 2)
r = 0.25 m (distance between the books)

Now, let's substitute the values into the formula to calculate the magnitude of the gravitational force between the books:

F = (6.67430 x 10^-11 N*(m/kg)^2) * (2.5 kg * 2.5 kg) / (0.25 m)^2

F = (6.67430 x 10^-11) * 6.25 / 0.0625

F = 1.667725 x 10^-10 N

Therefore, the magnitude of the gravitational attraction between the books is approximately 1.667725 x 10^-10 Newtons.

To calculate the magnitude of the gravitational attraction between the two books, we can use 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 their centers.

The formula for gravitational force (F) is:

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

where
- G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.67430 × 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2),
- m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects,
- r is the distance between their centers.

In this case, the masses of the books are both 2.5 kg, and the distance between their centers is 0.25 m.

Plugging in the values into the formula, we have:

F = (6.67430 × 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2 * 2.5 kg * 2.5 kg) / (0.25 m)^2

F = (6.67430 × 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2 * 6.25 kg^2) / 0.0625 m^2

F = (4.1714375 × 10^-10 N(m/kg)^2) / 0.0625 m^2

F ≈ 6.6743 × 10^-9 N

Therefore, the magnitude of the gravitational attraction between the books is approximately 6.6743 × 10^-9 Newtons.