What Is the Net Gravitational Force on a Sphere at the Origin?

In summary: I then took the sum of the Xs squared and the sum of the Ys squared and then the square root to find the magnitude of the resultant vector. I got 2.612E-7 N.
  • #1
singinglupine
15
0
The masses and coordinates of three particles are as follows: 20.0 kg, (0.50, 1.00) m; 309.0 kg, (-1.00, -1.00) m; 18.0 kg, (0.00, -0.50) m. What is the gravitational force on a 20.0 kg sphere located at the origin due to the other spheres, magnitude and direction? Give the direction as an angle in degrees counter clockwise with respect to the the + x-axis.

I have split the forces into x and y components using the F = (Gm1m2)/r^2 equation.
So for my x-forces I get:
F = (309)(20)G/2 * (1/sqrt(2)) ----> this is a negative force pulling down
F = (20)(20)G/1.25 * (.5/sqrt(1.25))

y-forces:
F = (309)(20)G/2 * (1/sqrt(2)) ----> this is a negative force pulling down
F = (18)(20)G/.25 ----> this is a negative force pulling down
F = (20)(20)G/1.25 * (1/sqrt(1.25))

Then I took the sum of the Xs squared and the sum of the Ys squared and then the square root to find the magnitude of the resultant vector. I got 2.612E-7 N.
Then for the degrees I took the inverse tan ( sum of the Ys/sum of the Xs) +180 deg to get it in the third quadrant for a result of 282.2 deg. Somewhere I've done something wrong because I'm getting this incorrect, where did I make a mistake?
 
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  • #2
Welcome to PF!

Hi singinglupine! Welcome to PF! :smile:

(have a square-root: √ :wink:)
singinglupine said:
So for my x-forces I get:
F = (309)(20)G/2 * (1/sqrt(2)) ----> this is a negative force pulling down
F = (20)(20)G/1.25 * (.5/sqrt(1.25))

y-forces:
F = (309)(20)G/2 * (1/sqrt(2)) ----> this is a negative force pulling down
F = (18)(20)G/.25 ----> this is a negative force pulling down
F = (20)(20)G/1.25 * (1/sqrt(1.25))

Sorry, but I don't understand what formula you've applied here. :redface:

Use mMr/r3 :smile:
 
  • #3


tiny-tim said:
Hi singinglupine! Welcome to PF! :smile:

(have a square-root: √ :wink:)Sorry, but I don't understand what formula you've applied here. :redface:

Use mMr/r3 :smile:

Thanks for the welcome :) I used the law of universal gravitation where
F = GmM/r2 and G is the gravitational force constant. The parts with something else multiplied by the force are the x, cos(θ) and y, sin(θ) components. I used pythagorean theorem to figure out the length of the hypotenuse, so that cos would be adjacent/hypotenuse and sin opposite/hypotenuse.
 

Related to What Is the Net Gravitational Force on a Sphere at the Origin?

What is Net Gravitational Force?

Net Gravitational Force is the overall force exerted on an object due to the combination of the gravitational forces from all surrounding objects.

How is Net Gravitational Force calculated?

Net Gravitational Force is calculated using the formula F = G * ((m1 * m2)/r^2), where G is the universal gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects, and r is the distance between the two objects.

What factors affect Net Gravitational Force?

The two main factors that affect Net Gravitational Force are the masses of the objects and the distance between them. The larger the masses and the closer the distance, the stronger the gravitational force will be.

How is Net Gravitational Force different from individual gravitational forces?

Individual gravitational forces only consider the force between two objects, while Net Gravitational Force takes into account the gravitational forces from all surrounding objects. It is the sum of all the individual gravitational forces acting on an object.

What are some real-life applications of Net Gravitational Force?

Net Gravitational Force is important in understanding the motion of objects in space and predicting the orbits of planets and moons. It is also crucial in satellite and spacecraft navigation and in studying the effects of gravity on objects in the universe.

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