If the Moon is brought closer to the Earth such that its distance from the Earth becomes half of the original distance, then the gravitational force of attraction between the Earth and the Moon would:

The correct answer is increase to four times of its original value.

Key Points

• If the Moon has twice the mass that it does, the force between the Earth and the Moon would be twice as large.
  • \(F = {G \times (Mass \:of \:moon) \times (Mass \:of \:Earth) \over distance^2} \)
  • So, if the Moon was twice as massive, the attractive force of Earth on the moon be twice as large and the attractive force of the moon on Earth would be both twice bigger.
• If the Moon were half the distance from the Earth, the gravitational force would be four times as large
  • \(F = {G \times (Mass \:of \:moon) \times (Mass \:of \:Earth) \over distance^2}\)
    • According to the formula, it is visible that if the moon were half the distance from the Earth, the gravitational force would be four times as large.