Question

drag and drop the words or phrases that accurately complete the paragraph.
distance and □ effect gravitational force. the greater the mass of an object, the □ the force of gravity pulling or pushing on the object. for example, earth and saturn are both planets with mass. however, the earth has enough mass to hold one moon in its orbit, while saturn has enough mass to hold 61 moons in its orbit. distance also affects the gravitational attraction. when the objects are closer together, then the gravitational pull □ . however, when objects are farther apart, the gravitational pull or force □ .
options: decreases, equalizes, weaker, mass, increases, magnitude, greater, size

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the concepts of gravitational force (from physics, a subfield of Natural Science) and use the given options:

First Blank:

Gravitational force depends on mass and distance (Newton’s law of gravitation: \( F = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2} \), where \( m \) is mass). So the first blank is "mass".

Second Blank:

From the formula, greater mass means greater gravitational force. The example (Earth vs. Saturn’s moons) also shows more mass → more gravitational pull. So "greater" fits (the greater the mass, the greater the force).

Third Blank:

When objects are closer (\( r \) decreases in \( F = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2} \)), force increases. So "increases" fits (closer → gravitational pull increases).

Fourth Blank:

When objects are farther (\( r \) increases), force decreases (from the formula). So "decreases" fits (farther → gravitational force decreases).

Filling the blanks:

1. mass
2. greater
3. increases
4. decreases

(Note: The options "equalizes", "weaker" (for the second blank), "magnitude", "size" do not fit the physics of gravitational force here.)

Answer:

To solve this, we analyze the concepts of gravitational force (from physics, a subfield of Natural Science) and use the given options:

First Blank:

Gravitational force depends on mass and distance (Newton’s law of gravitation: \( F = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2} \), where \( m \) is mass). So the first blank is "mass".

Second Blank:

From the formula, greater mass means greater gravitational force. The example (Earth vs. Saturn’s moons) also shows more mass → more gravitational pull. So "greater" fits (the greater the mass, the greater the force).

Third Blank:

When objects are closer (\( r \) decreases in \( F = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2} \)), force increases. So "increases" fits (closer → gravitational pull increases).

Fourth Blank:

When objects are farther (\( r \) increases), force decreases (from the formula). So "decreases" fits (farther → gravitational force decreases).

Filling the blanks:

1. mass
2. greater
3. increases
4. decreases

(Note: The options "equalizes", "weaker" (for the second blank), "magnitude", "size" do not fit the physics of gravitational force here.)