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lsatwd
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Homework Statement
A small mass M and a small mass 3M are 3.60m apart. Where should you put a third small mass so that the net gravitational force on it due to the other two masses is zero?(From mass M)
Homework Equations
F = G(m1)(m2)/d^2
The Attempt at a Solution
Code:
I envisioned the problem to originally look like this:
[1M] [3M]
And adding in the 3rd mass I envisioned it to look something like this:
[1M] (1M) [3M]
I then tried solving the problem by setting the two unknown variables (the distance between the 3rd mass and 1st mass and the 3rd mass and the 2nd mass) like this:
x = Distance between [1M] and (1M)
3.60-x = distance between (1M) and [3m]
I was thinking this would give me an equation looking like this:
G[1M](1M)/x^2 = G(1M)[3M]/(3.60-x)^2
I tried solving this but it's not giving me the right answer... Should the right equation above be G(2M)(3M)/(3.60-x)^2 because of combined mass?