Which change in the sun’s gravity would occur if the sun’s mass were reduced by one-half?(1 point)
Responses
It would be unchanged.
It would be unchanged.
It would be doubled.
It would be doubled.
It would be halved.
It would be halved.
It would be zero.
It would be zero.
It would be halved.
If the sun's mass were reduced by one-half, the change in the sun's gravity would be halved.
The change in the sun's gravity can be determined by using Newton's law of gravity. According to Newton's law, the force of gravity between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. The formula for the gravitational force between two masses (F) is given as:
F = G * (m1 * m2) / r^2,
where G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects, and r is the distance between their centers.
In this case, we want to determine the change in gravity if the sun's mass is reduced by one-half. Let's call the original mass of the sun M, and the new mass after reduction M/2.
The gravitational force formula can be rewritten as:
F = G * (M * m2) / r^2.
If the sun's mass is reduced by one-half, we can substitute M/2 for M in the formula:
F_new = G * ((M/2) * m2) / r^2.
Now we can compare the new gravitational force (F_new) with the original gravitational force (F) to determine the change in gravity.
Since the gravitational force is directly proportional to the product of masses, we can see that if the sun's mass is halved, the product (M/2) * m2 will also be halved. Therefore, the new gravitational force will be half of the original force.
So, if the sun's mass were reduced by one-half, the change in the sun's gravity would be that it would be halved.