When an astronaut is on a spacewalk and is moving away from the space shuttle, how is the force of gravity between the two objects affected?
*
1 point
It increases
It decreases
It increases for the astronaut and decreases for the space shuttle
It decreases for the astronaut and increases for the space shuttle
It decreases.
When an astronaut is on a spacewalk and moves away from the space shuttle, the force of gravity between the two objects decreases. To understand why, we need to consider Newton's law of universal gravitation.
According to Newton's law, the force of gravity between any two objects depends on their masses and the distance between them.
The force of gravity (F) can be calculated using the equation:
F = (G * m1 * m2) / r^2
Where:
- G is the gravitational constant (a constant value)
- m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects
- r is the distance between the centers of the two objects
In this case, when the astronaut moves away from the space shuttle, the distance (r) between them increases, causing the force of gravity (F) to decrease.
Therefore, the correct answer is: It decreases.