The earth attracts a large flying bug toward its center with a force of 0.10 Newtons. With what force does the bug attract the earth itself?

1. 1.0 N
2. 0.10 N
3. Trillions of Newtons
4. 10 N
5. We need the mass of the bug.
6. Zero; the earth attracts the bug, not the other way around.
7. A very, very, very small fraction of a Newton, since the bug’s mass is negligible compared to the earth’s mass

Newton's third law: Equal and opposite

2) 0.10 N

The force with which the bug attracts the earth can be determined using Newton's third law of motion, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, the action is the earth attracting the bug, and the reaction is the bug attracting the earth. Therefore, the force with which the bug attracts the earth is equal to the force with which the earth attracts the bug, which is 0.10 Newtons.

So, the correct answer is option 2. 0.10 N.

To determine the force with which the bug attracts the earth itself, we can use Newton's law of universal gravitation. This law states that the force of gravitational attraction between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.

In this case, the force with which the earth attracts the bug is given as 0.10 Newtons. Therefore, to calculate the force with which the bug attracts the earth, we need to know the bug's mass and the distance between the bug and the earth's center.

However, we can make some general observations based on the relative masses of the bug and the earth. The earth is much larger and more massive than the bug, so the mass of the bug can be considered negligible compared to the mass of the earth. As a result, the gravitational force exerted by the bug on the earth would be extremely small.

Therefore, option 7, "A very, very, very small fraction of a Newton, since the bug’s mass is negligible compared to the earth’s mass," is the most accurate choice.