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When you drop a pencil...?
If you drop a pencil toward the Earth, the Earth moves to the pencil and the pencil moves towards the Earth. I have been asked to find the force of the pencil on Earth and the Earth on the pencil. I must also find the acceleration of the pencil and the Earth. I haven't been able to figure it out. Please name sources, I have to give them. If you can't find it, any help or advice would be great. Thanks!
2 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
by newtonw law, the gravity accelation for any object is 9.81m/s2.
- 1 decade ago
The acceleration of the pencil is the same as the acceleration due to gravity, which is 9.8m/s^2. The force of the pencil on the earth is the mass of the pencil (in kilograms) multipled by the acceleration of the pencil; 9.8*mass of pencil. Since the earth and pencil are not bouncing apart the are exerting an equal force on each other; the force of the earth on the pencil is -9.8*mass of pencil (this is called the normal force). The acceleration of the earth is the force divided by the mass of the earth; 9.8*mass of pencil/mass of earth (basically zero).
