Bill has a mass of 83.6 kg. Jane has a mass of 51.0 kg. If they are seated 4.3 m apart, how much gravitational force attracts them?
To calculate the gravitational force between two objects, we can use Newton's law of universal gravitation. The formula is as follows:
F = (G * m1 * m2) / r^2
where:
F is the gravitational force,
G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.674 × 10^-11 N*m^2/kg^2),
m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects, and
r is the distance between the centers of the two objects.
Let's calculate the gravitational force between Bill and Jane:
m1 = 83.6 kg (mass of Bill)
m2 = 51.0 kg (mass of Jane)
r = 4.3 m (distance between them)
Plugging these values into the formula:
F = (6.674 × 10^-11 N*m^2/kg^2 * 83.6 kg * 51.0 kg) / (4.3 m)^2
F = (3.712 × 10^-8 N*m^2/kg^2 * 4273.6 kg^2) / 18.49 m^2
F ≈ 8.58 × 10^-6 N
Therefore, the gravitational force attracting Bill and Jane is approximately 8.58 × 10^-6 Newtons.