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CIRCULAR MOTION

GFA: gravitational force of attraction. This depends on the masses of objects and the distance between them!

Here, the sun has a much greater mass than the earth and so has a stronger gravitational force of attraction, hence why the earth stays in orbit around the sun.

you must remember that when the mass of an object is doubled, the GFA is doubled and when the DISTANCE is doubled, the force becomes 4 times SMALLER

This is due to the mass-force linear relationship. This is where m is proportional to F, so if you increase the mass, you increase the force.

The distance-force relationship is an inverse square: meaning 1/d(squared) is proportional to F, so when there is an increase in distance, there is a DRAMATIC decrease in force.

If the distance becomes twice as large, the force will be 4 times smaller. If the distance becomes 3 times larger, the force will become 9 times smaller!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xICEt51A-Ac (Einbetten)

This video explains these relationships simply:

If a force of gravitational attraction Is suddenly lost, the object will move off in a straight line called a tangent: (90 degrees to a radius)

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