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Joe has a weight of 720 N ( about 162 lb) when he is standing on the surface of the earth . What would his weight ( the gravitational force due to the earth) be if he doubled his distance from the center of the earth by flying in space in aircraft?

Answer :

In order to find his weight, let's analyze the formula for the gravitational force between two bodies:

[tex]F=\frac{GMm}{d^2}[/tex]

We can see that the gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

So, if the distance doubles, that means the gravitational force will decrease by a factor of 4.

Joe's weight on Earth is 720 N, so his weight on the aircraft would be:

[tex]W=\frac{720}{4}=180\text{ N}[/tex]

Joe's weight would be 180 N.

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