Answer in Physics for Kate Swales #226687
January 24th, 2023
The mass of Earth is 6.0 * 10^24kg. The mass of the moon is 7.4 * 10^22kg. The distance between the Earth and the moon is 3.8 * 10^8m.
(a) Treating the bodies as point masses, calculate the gravitational field strength at a distance of 3.42 × 10^8 m from the Earth, on the line that joins them.
b) Comment on this result; what is the net field strength at that point? (1 mark)
The field from the earth:
“g_e=frac{GM_e}{r^2}=0.00342text{ N/m},\space\ng_m=frac{GM_m}{(R-r)^2}=0.00342text{ N/m}.”
The gravitational field strength is 0 if we consider 3 significant figures and it’s 0.00004 of we consider more.
Add we see, the gravitational influence of the earth is infinitesimal.