Arturo O. answered • 04/02/18
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M = mass of sun
m = mass of moon
G = universal constant of gravitation
R = sun-earth distance
r = earth-moon distance
Δa = GM/R2 - Gm/r2
Look up G, R, and M, and plug in the numbers. Post a Comment if you are not getting the right answer.
Arturo O.
This is a Newton's 2nd law situation.
F = ma
a = F/m
There are 2 forces, the gravitational attraction of the sun pulling the earth one way, and the gravitational attraction of the moon pulling the other way. The net acceleration is the difference of the forces divided by the mass of the earth. Both forces obey Newton's law of gravitation:
F12 = Gm1m2/r122
One of these masses is the mass of the earth. Divide it out from the sun-earth force and moon-earth force equations to get accelerations, and take the difference, which gives you the equation in my answer.
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04/03/18
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04/03/18