- #1
Perillux
I'm just curious how long it would take for two 1kg masses separated by 1m to attract each other gravitationally in empty space. The formula for gravitational force is:
[tex]F_{g} = G \frac{m_{1}m_{2}}{r^{2}}[/tex]
where r is the distance between the two masses.
So if the midpoint for the two masses is centered at the origin then the two objects are located at x=-0.5 and x=0.5 respectively. So the value for r^2 in the equation above is always [itex](2x)^{2}[/itex] So we can say that the formula for force between the two objects based on either objects position is:
[tex]F_{g} = \frac{G}{(2x)^{2}}[/tex]
I didn't include m1m2 because they are both 1.
and that is as far as I can go. If I had an equation for the force based on time then I could solve for how long it takes the two objects to meet.
So is it possible to find an equation of the force based on time from what I have? Or maybe something completely different? Any help is appreciated.
[tex]F_{g} = G \frac{m_{1}m_{2}}{r^{2}}[/tex]
where r is the distance between the two masses.
So if the midpoint for the two masses is centered at the origin then the two objects are located at x=-0.5 and x=0.5 respectively. So the value for r^2 in the equation above is always [itex](2x)^{2}[/itex] So we can say that the formula for force between the two objects based on either objects position is:
[tex]F_{g} = \frac{G}{(2x)^{2}}[/tex]
I didn't include m1m2 because they are both 1.
and that is as far as I can go. If I had an equation for the force based on time then I could solve for how long it takes the two objects to meet.
So is it possible to find an equation of the force based on time from what I have? Or maybe something completely different? Any help is appreciated.