Finding net gravitational force magnitude on moon

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on calculating the net gravitational force acting on the moon due to the sun and earth, given their respective masses and distances. The gravitational forces exerted by the sun and earth are perpendicular, leading to the need for vector addition rather than simple arithmetic. Initial calculations yielded incorrect results due to improper handling of the forces' directions. The importance of including units in calculations is emphasized, and attempts to find the correct vector sum have not yet been successful. Accurate computation of the net gravitational force remains unresolved.
TmrK
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Homework Statement


The drawing (not to scale) shows one alignment of the sun, earth, and moon. The gravitational force that the sun exerts on the moon is perpendicular to the force that the Earth exerts on the moon. The masses are: mass of sun=1.99 × 1030 kg, mass of earth=5.98 × 1024 kg, mass of moon=7.35 × 1022 kg. The distances shown in the drawing are rSM = 1.50 × 1011 m and rEM = 3.85 × 108 m. Determine the magnitude of the net gravitational force on the moon.


Homework Equations


Fsm=Gmsmm/rsm2
Fem=Gmemm/rem2
Fnet=Fsm+Fem

The Attempt at a Solution


Solved for Fsm, which equals to 4.3359444667x1064
Fem=1.977847934X1084

After finding the sum of these two forces, which is 8.68x10128, I decided to find the square root of this and ended up getting 2.946183972531247x1064.

This, however, was proven incorrect.
 
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The forces aren't in the same direction, so you can't just add their magnitudes together. You need to find their vector sum.

EDIT: Also you should really include units in all of your calculations.
 
TmrK said:

Homework Statement


The drawing (not to scale) shows one alignment of the sun, earth, and moon. The gravitational force that the sun exerts on the moon is perpendicular to the force that the Earth exerts on the moon. The masses are: mass of sun=1.99 × 1030 kg, mass of earth=5.98 × 1024 kg, mass of moon=7.35 × 1022 kg. The distances shown in the drawing are rSM = 1.50 × 1011 m and rEM = 3.85 × 108 m. Determine the magnitude of the net gravitational force on the moon.


Homework Equations


Fsm=Gmsmm/rsm2
Fem=Gmemm/rem2
Fnet=Fsm+Fem

The Attempt at a Solution


Solved for Fsm, which equals to 4.3359444667x1064N
Fem=1.977847934X1084N

After finding the sum of these two forces, which is 8.68x10128N, I decided to find the square root of this and ended up getting 2.946183972531247x1064N.

This, however, was proven incorrect.

Edit: did try finding it by vector sum, but did not worked as well. I'm not going to post what number I ended up with.
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