During a solar eclipse, the moon, earth, and sun all lie on the same line, with the moon between the earth and the sun. answer all questions to 3 significant figures. (a) what force is exerted by the sun on the moon? webassign will check your answer for the correct number of significant figures. incorrect: your answer is incorrect. enter a number. (b) what force is exerted by the earth on the moon? webassign will check your answer for the correct number of significant figures. (c) what force is exerted by the sun on the earth? webassign will check your answer for the correct number of significant figures.

(a)

The distance between the Sun and the Earth is

The distance between the Earth and the Moon is

So, the distance between the Sun and the Moon, when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, is

So the gravitational force between the Sun and the Moon is

where

G is the gravitational constant

is the mass of the Sun

is the mass of the Moon

is their distance

Substituting,

(b)

The gravitational force between the Earth and the Moon is

where

G is the gravitational constant

is the mass of the Earth

is the mass of the Moon

is their distance

Substituting,

(c)

The gravitational force between the Earth and the Sun is

where

G is the gravitational constant

is the mass of the Earth

is the mass of the Sun

is their distance

Substituting,

see the picture for the vector

the magnitude of the vector by pythagorean theorem

r = √( (-10)^2 + (3)^2 ) = √109

magnitude = √109 units

the direction angle between vector and x-axis is

tan^(-1)(3/10) = 16.699

so the direction is approximately 16.7 degrees north of west