Name: Introduction to Van de Graaff Generator
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 5 min 52 s
Description: If you keep charging a metallic conductor, it will eventually become a potential bomb. A machine was specially designed to generate and handle such high pote...

Question

Use Newton's law of gravitation to calculate the force of gravity that would act between you and someone standing next to you. What does the size of this force say about how we notice the interaction of gravity?

Accepted Answer

According to Newton's law of universal gravitation, the force of attraction between two bodies of masses $m_{1} and m_{2}$ at a distance $d$ is given as:

$F = \frac{G m_{1} m_{2}}{d^{2}}$

Where $G = 6.67 \times 10^{- 11} N - m^{2} / {kg}^{2}$

Taking the mass of two persons to be nearly $60 kg$ standing $1 m$ apart, the force acting between them:

$F = 6.67 \times 10^{- 11} \times 3600 = 2.4 \times 10^{- 6} N$

Hence, the acceleration produced in the body due to this force:

$a = \frac{2.4 \times 10^{- 6}}{60} = 4 \times 10^{- 8} m s^{- 2}$

It is negligibly small. This is the reason that the effect of gravitational pull is not noticeable in this case.

William Heathcote Solutions for Chapter: Interaction, Exercise 2: Exercise 2

William Heathcote Physics Solutions for Exercise - William Heathcote Solutions for Chapter: Interaction, Exercise 2: Exercise 2

Questions from William Heathcote Solutions for Chapter: Interaction, Exercise 2: Exercise 2 with Hints & Solutions

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