Two small masses that are 10.0 cm apart attract each other with a force of 10.0 N. When they are 5.0 cm apart, these masses will attract each other with what force?
Since gravitational force increases or decreases as the inverse square of the distance between two objects, it therefore means this:
Since the new distance has decreased by 1/2, that means the gravitational force will increase as [1 /(1/2)]^2=2^2=4 times. Therefore the force between the two objects, will increase from 10 N to: 10 x 4 =40 newtons.
