Gravitation Force Question | Tricky

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem in gravitation, specifically calculating the point between the Earth and the Moon where their gravitational forces cancel each other out. The original poster describes challenges faced with their physics coursework and presents the problem statement along with relevant equations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the original poster's approach to setting the gravitational forces equal and question the correctness of their calculations. There is a suggestion to use a different equation to find the equilibrium position, prompting further exploration of the problem setup.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants providing alternative approaches and questioning the original poster's reasoning. There is no explicit consensus yet, but the conversation is moving towards refining the problem interpretation and exploring different mathematical representations.

Contextual Notes

The original poster mentions limited access to teacher support and inadequate textbook explanations, which may impact their understanding of the problem. The complexity of the gravitational forces involved is also a point of consideration.

Raza
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Hi, I am taking Physics Grade 12 at home, so I get teacher's help for 2 hours once a week. They basically give me booklets to do at home and just simply hand it in. But the negative side to this that it's only 2 hours of help and teachers don't know most of the questions (they're new). And also the books are COMPLETE crap; there is little or no explanation behind the physic's equation and leave you to think about equation yourself. There's more questions that I don't get but here's the 1st question from the booklet.

Homework Statement


The mass of the Moon is 7.35 x 1022kg. At some point between Earth and the Moon, the force of Earth's gravitational attraction on an object is canceled by the Moon's force of gravitational attraction. If the distance between Earth and the Moon (center to center) is 3.84 x 105km, calculate where this will occur, relative to Earth.


Homework Equations


[tex]F_{g}=\frac{Gm_{1}m_{2}}{r^2}[/tex]
MMoon=7.35 x 1022kg
MEarth=5.98 x 1024kg
Gconstant=6.67 x 10-11N x m^2/kg^2


The Attempt at a Solution


I think it must be:
[tex]\frac{F_{(G)moon}}{F_{(G)earth}}=1[/tex]
and you are trying to figure out r.
 
Last edited:
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Using your solution, you've got a wrong answer? r^2 = (3.84E5)^5?
 
Well, is my solution right?
 
How about trying;

[tex]\frac{GM_e}{d^2}-\frac{GM_m}{(r-d)^2} = 0[/tex]

Where d is the distance from the Earth to the equilibrium position and r is the distance from Earth to the moon. Does that make sense?
 

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