Question

Two trucks with equal mass are attracted to each other with a gravitational force of 5.3 x 10 -4 N. The trucks are separated by a distance of 2.6 m. What is the mass of either of the trucks?

Answer 1

Answer:

7327 kg or 7.3 tons

Explanation:

We have Newton formula for attraction force between 2 objects with mass and a distance between them:

$F_G = G\frac{M_1M_2}{R^2}$

where $G =6.67408*10^{-11} m^3/kgs^2$ is the gravitational constant on Earth. $M = M_1 = M_2$ is the masses of the 2 objects. and R = 2.6m is the distance between them.

$F_G = 5.3*10^{-4}N$ is the attraction force.

$5.3*10^{-4} = 6.67408*10^{-11}\frac{M^2}{2.6^2}$

$7941265 = \frac{M^2}{2.6^2}$

$M^2 = 53682948.76$

$M = \sqrt{53682948.76} \approx 7327 kg$ or 7.3 tons