Question

a student wants to know the gravitational force between the moon and the earth. they know the mass of the moon, the mass of the earth, and the distance between them. what else do they need to know? the earths velocity what time of year it is the gravitational constant g the phase of the moon

Explanation:

To calculate the gravitational force between two objects (like the Earth and the moon), we use Newton's law of universal gravitation: \( F = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2} \), where \( F \) is the gravitational force, \( G \) is the gravitational constant, \( m_1 \) and \( m_2 \) are the masses of the two objects, and \( r \) is the distance between their centers. The student already knows the masses of the moon (\( m_1 \)) and Earth (\( m_2 \)) and the distance (\( r \)) between them. So, to find \( F \), they need the gravitational constant \( G \). The Earth’s velocity, time of year, and moon’s phase are irrelevant to this calculation.

Answer:

the gravitational constant G