The Moon and Earth rotate about their common center of mass, which is located about 4700 | StudySoup

Textbook Solutions for College Physics for AP® Courses

Chapter 6 Problem 37

Question

The Moon and Earth rotate about their common center of mass, which is located about 4700 km from the center of Earth. (This is 1690 km below the surface.) (a) Calculate the magnitude of the acceleration due to the Moon's gravity at that point. (b) Calculate the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration of the center of Earth as it rotates about that point once each lunar month (about 27.3 d) and compare it with the acceleration found in part (a). Comment on whether or not they are equal and why they should or should not be.

Solution

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The first step in solving 6 problem number 60 trying to solve the problem we have to refer to the textbook question: The Moon and Earth rotate about their common center of mass, which is located about 4700 km from the center of Earth. (This is 1690 km below the surface.) (a) Calculate the magnitude of the acceleration due to the Moon's gravity at that point. (b) Calculate the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration of the center of Earth as it rotates about that point once each lunar month (about 27.3 d) and compare it with the acceleration found in part (a). Comment on whether or not they are equal and why they should or should not be.
From the textbook chapter GRAVITATION AND UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION you will find a few key concepts needed to solve this.

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full solution

Title College Physics for AP® Courses 1 
Author Gregg Wolfe, Irina Lyublinskaya, Douglas Ingram
ISBN 9781938168932

The Moon and Earth rotate about their common center of mass, which is located about 4700

Chapter 6 textbook questions

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