How does radius affect weight

If a model can reach feet about 7 miles the distance to the center of the Earth is about miles. If the rocket weighs pounds on the surface of the Earth, it weighs Let's do another problem and compute the weight of the Space Shuttle in low Earth orbit. On the ground, the orbiter weighs about , pounds. In orbit, the shuttle is about miles above the surface of the Earth. Notice: the weight is not zero. The shuttle is not weightless in orbit.

But your mass does not change. If so, do they get heavier the closer to the centre of the Earth they move, such as down a mine shaft? Weight is the way we usually describe what the scales tell us, but our weight is actually something different.

If my mass is 50 kilograms and I'm standing on the surface of the Earth, I multiply it by 9. As you travel away from the Earth's surface, your mass stays the same but your weight reduces as gravitational pull decreases.

For example, an astronaut orbiting the Earth and floating weightlessly in the cabin still has the same mass. If it were possible to put them on scales in that situation they would be the same number of kilograms as they were on Earth. However their weight in Newtons would have reduced.

If you're in a spaceship you don't feel weight because you don't have the ground pushing up against you". Gravitational pull will also change subtly as you move around the surface of the Earth, varying with latitude and local topology, as the Earth is not a perfect sphere. If the mass of both objects was tripled, and if the distance between the objects was doubled, then what would be the new force of attraction between the two objects?

But this affect is partly offset by the doubling of the distance. Doubling the distance would cause the force to be decreased by a factor of 4 2 2.

If the mass of object 1 was doubled, and if the distance between the objects was tripled, then what would be the new force of attraction between the two objects? If the mass of one object is doubled. But this affect is more than offset by the tripling of the separation distance. Tripling the distance would cause the force to be decreased by a factor of 9 3 2.

As a star ages, it is believed to undergo a variety of changes. One of the last phases of a star's life is to gravitationally collapse into a black hole. What will happen to the orbit of the planets of the solar system if our star the Sun shrinks into a black hole?

And of course, this assumes that the planets are unaffected by prior stages of the Sun's evolving stages. The shrinking of the sun into a black hole would not influence the amount of force with which the sun attracted the Earth since neither the mass of the sun nor the distance between the Earth's and sun's centers would change. Having recently completed her first Physics course, Dawn Well has devised a new business plan based on her teacher's Physics for Better Living theme.

Dawn learned that objects weigh different amounts at different distances from Earth's center. Her plan involves buying gold by the weight at one altitude and then selling it at another altitude at the same price per weight. Should Dawn buy at a high altitude and sell at a low altitude or vice versa?

The mass of the purchased gold would be the same at both altitudes. Yet it would weight less at higher altitudes. So to make a profit, Dawn should buy at high altitudes and sell at low altitudes.

She would have more gold by weight to sell at the lower altitudes. Fred is very concerned about his weight but seldom does anything about it. After learning about Newton's law of universal gravitation in Physics class, he becomes all concerned about the possible effect of a change in Earth's mass upon his weight. Answer: "Fred - that's a great question! But no worries bro. You wouldn't look any different than you do now since your mass would remain as is.

When comparing mass and size data for the planets Earth and Jupiter, it is observed that Jupiter is about times more massive than Earth. One might quickly conclude that an object on the surface of Jupiter would weigh times more than on the surface of the Earth. For instance, one might expect a person who weighs N on Earth would weigh N on the surface of Jupiter.

Yet this is not the case. In fact, a N person on Earth weighs about N on the surface of Jupiter. Explain how this can be. Cavendish determined this constant by accurately measuring the horizontal force between metal spheres in an experiment sometimes referred to as "weighing the earth. The gravitational attraction between the Earth and the sun is G times the sun's mass times the Earth's mass, divided by the distance between the Earth and the sun squared.

This attraction must be equal to the centripetal force needed to keep the earth in its almost circular orbit around the sun. The centripetal force is the Earth's mass times the square of its speed divided by its distance from the sun.

By astronomically determining the distance to the sun, we can calculate the earth's speed around the sun and hence the sun's mass. Once we have the sun's mass, we can similarly determine the mass of any planet by astronomically determining the planet's orbital radius and period, calculating the required centripetal force and equating this force to the force predicted by the law of universal gravitation using the sun's mass.

Additional details are provided by Gregory A. The weight or the mass of a planet is determined by its gravitational effect on other bodies. Newton's Law of Gravitation states that every bit of matter in the universe attracts every other with a gravitational force that is proportional to its mass. For objects of the size we encounter in everyday life, this force is so minuscule that we don't notice it. However for objects the size of planets or stars, it is of great importance.