According to Newton's universal law of gravitation, if the distance between two point masses is tripled, how does the gravitational attractive force between them change?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. It reduces to one-ninth
- Step 1: Recall Newton's law of universal gravitation: .
- Step 2: Since gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of separation (), tripling () results in .
Answer
It reduces to one-ninth.
Why not the others: 'It triples' assumes direct linear proportionality; 'It reduces to one-third' assumes inverse linear proportionality without squaring; 'It increases nine-fold' assumes direct square relationship.
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