Gravitational pull on probe between the Sun and the Earth

AI Thread Summary
To determine the distance from Earth where a space probe experiences balanced gravitational forces from both the Earth and the Sun, one must equate the gravitational pull exerted by each body. The distance from the Earth to the Sun is represented as 'd', while 'r' denotes the distance from the Earth to the probe. The gravitational force can be expressed using Newton's law of universal gravitation, where the force from the Earth is proportional to 1/r² and the force from the Sun is proportional to 1/(d-r)². Setting these two forces equal allows for the calculation of 'r', providing the necessary distance for balance. Understanding the relationship between gravitational force and distance is crucial for solving this problem.
bearhug
Messages
78
Reaction score
0
How far from Earth must a space probe be along a line toward the Sun so that the Sun's gravitational pull on the probe balances the Earth's pull?

I'm actually just confused as to how to set this up. I know that I need to consider d being the distance from the Earth to the sun and r being the distance from the Earth to the probe. And use (d-r). Any help as to how I should set this up would be greatly appreciated. Part of what I'm confused with is that when referring to pull I'm thinking that is a force right. I'm completely lost as to how to start this one.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Equate the gravitational attractive power on the probe by the Earth and the sun.
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
Back
Top