Gravitational force confusing question

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a question from a practice test regarding gravitational force experienced by a person jumping out of a plane, specifically focusing on the mass of the individual and the missing second mass needed for calculations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the implications of the question's wording, questioning whether the gravitational force refers to the force between two masses or just the individual. There is also discussion about the assumptions regarding the height of the plane and the relevance of Earth's mass.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants offering different interpretations of the question and suggesting assumptions that could be made to approach the problem. No consensus has been reached, but multiple lines of reasoning are being explored.

Contextual Notes

There is a noted ambiguity in the question regarding the reference to "their" gravitational force and the lack of a second mass provided in the problem statement. Participants are considering the implications of these factors on the calculations.

Wesdxc
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I have this question on my practice test that I can't figure out. "Just as one jumps out of a plane what is their gravitational force given that the mass is 70kg." The thing is, for me to use the gravitational force formula I need to masses. The test only has the one. Am I missing something? Am I to stupid to look over such an obvious answer?
 
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Presumably the plane is flying in earth's atmosphere.
 
You can also assume that it is not too far away from the ground.

I moved the thread to our homework section.
 
Is that the exact wording of the question. I note it asks for "their" gravitational force. Would that be asking for the gravitational force between two identical skydivers each of mass 70kg?

Edit. On the other hand it mentions "one" leaving the plane.
 
Why don't uh try assuming that the plane's height is negligible with respect to radius of Earth and try mass of Earth for second mass so the eqn becomes F=G×m1×M/r^2 (in this case "M" is equal to mass of earth
 

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