A bowling ball (mass = 4.4 kg, radius = 0.11 m) and a billiard ball (mass = 0.35 kg, radius = 0.028 m) may each be treated as uniform spheres. What is the magnitude of the maximum gravitational force that each can exert on the other?
What equation should I use with this since I have radius?
the minium distance apart center to center is (.11+.028)
force= GMm/distance^2
Not sure what G and M stand for.
To calculate the magnitude of the maximum gravitational force between the two uniform spheres (bowling ball and billiard ball), you can use Newton's law of universal gravitation.
The equation is:
F = (G * m1 * m2) / r^2
Where:
F = magnitude of the gravitational force
G = gravitational constant (approximately 6.67430 × 10^-11 m^3 kg^-1 s^-2)
m1, m2 = masses of the bowling ball and billiard ball respectively
r = distance between the centers of the two spheres
In this case, since both spheres are treated as uniform spheres, the centers of the spheres will be separated by the sum of their radii (r = r1 + r2). This is because the gravitational force between two spheres acts along their line of centers.
Let's compute the gravitational force now.