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| Images from NASA JPL, assembled by Royalty-free Image Collection. |
As we've learned, every object (with mass) in the universe attracts every other object (with mass) in the universe with a gravitational force. Newton's Law of Universal Gravity tells us how to compute the magnitude
of these gravitational forces. Consider the 8 planets in the Solar System:
of these gravitational forces. Consider the 8 planets in the Solar System:
- Which of the 7 other planets exerts the largest force on the Earth? How big is this force?
- Which 2 planets exert the largest forces on each other? How big are these forces?
- Compare the force of gravity that the sun applies to the Earth and the force of gravity that the Moon applies the the Earth... ... By what factor is the Sun's force stronger?
- What is the nearest star to the Sun? How far away is it in units of meters?
- What is the magnitude of the gravitational force between the Sun and its nearest stellar neighbor?
A few years ago, answering these questions would have required a student to look up masses and distances in a handbook (or online) and do many tedious calculations. Now, there are many slick alternatives. I'd like us to investigate these questions using Wolfram Alpha. (Incidentally, Wolfram Alpha is scheduled to have a big overhaul this Wednesday--there will now be a "Pro" version.) Use Wolfram Alpha to determine the answers to the five questions above. Post your results as comments.
Considering the planets I wonder how many galaxies are out there? It's hard to say.
ReplyDeleteThe nearest star to the sun is Proxima Centauri. It is 1,290,000,000 meters away, or 4.3 light years.
ReplyDeleteYour answer in meters is not correct. Where did you find this information?
DeleteI tried putting it into Wolfram Alpha Pro but it wouldn't let me without making an account. I just put the question back into the regular version and it says the distance is 3.991 x 10^16 meters. I must have done something wrong the first time through.
DeleteThe sun applies a significantly larger force of gravity on Earth compared to the moon. This is because of the amount of mass the sun contains, when the moon has very little mass compared to the sun.
ReplyDeleteJensen Matese
You're right. What is the magnitude of this force?
DeleteThe closest star to the sun is Proxima Centauri. It is
ReplyDelete40650000000000000 meters away
I think that Jupiter exerts the most force onto the earth because Jupiter has the most gravity of all the planets in our solar system. Jupiter is the bigest know plantet.
ReplyDeletei agree with jensen about the sun applying larger force then the earth because of the mass.
ReplyDeletemason smeznik
proxima centauri 3.9905x10^16 meters. jupiter exerts the greatest gravitational pull on the earth. 2.36x that of the earth.
ReplyDeletemason smeznik
I agree with Lil Wayne that the closest star to the sun is Proxima Centauri and I agree with the distance that he stated.
ReplyDeleteJupiter is the planet that excerts the most force on the Earth. This is because, besides the Sun, Jupiter makes up the secondest biggest mass by Earth.
Thanks for the comments this week.
ReplyDelete