Two 1-kg point masses a distance d apart each exert a gravitational attraction f on the other one. if 1 kg is now added to each mass, the gravitational attraction exerted by each will be

Question: Two 1-kg point masses a distance d apart each exert a gravitational attraction F on the other one. If 1 kg is now added to each mass, the gravitational attraction exerted by each will be

4f

Explanation:  a gravitational force is propotional to a square of distance between two point masses so we separate the masses to a distance

question answered by

(jacemorris04)

We know that the gravitational force is proportional to (m₁) · (m₂).

Now we want to know the force between (2·m₁) · (2·m₂).

Well, that's just the same as (2·2) · (m₁)·(m₂), which is  4 · (m₁)·(m₂) ... four times the original force.

So in this question, the new pair of gravitational forces will be 4·F in each direction.