Authors: Russell C. Hibbeler
ISBN-13: 978-0133915426
See our solution for Question 15P from Chapter 1 from Hibbeler's Engineering Mechanics.
We have the equation of force which is given by, $F = G\frac{{{m_1}{m_2}}}{{{r^2}}}$
We have the mass of each sphere, that is ${m_1} = {m_2} = 200\;{\rm{kg}}$.
The radius of each sphere is: ${r_s} = 300\;{\rm{mm}}$
We are required to show that the given equation is dimensionally homogeneous. Also, we are asked to determine the value of gravitational force in SI units in three significant figures.
To show the dimensional homogeneity, we should write the SI units of all the physical variables. The SI unit of force $\left( F \right)$ is Newton denoted by $\left( {\rm{N}} \right)$, masses ${m_1}$ and ${m_2}$ have the unit kilogram $\left( {{\rm{kg}}} \right)$, $r$ is the distance between two masses having the SI unit meter$\left( {\rm{m}} \right)$. The constant G is known as universal gravitational constant, whose SI unit is $\left( {{{{{\rm{m}}^3}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{{\rm{m}}^3}} {{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{s}}^2}}}} \right. } {{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{s}}^2}}}} \right)$.
Substitute all the SI units in equation
\[\begin{array}{c} F = G\frac{{{m_1}{m_2}}}{{{r^2}}}\\ {\rm{N}} = \left( {\frac{{{{\rm{m}}^3}}}{{{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{s}}^2}}}} \right) \times \left( {\frac{{{\rm{kg}} \times {\rm{kg}}}}{{{{\rm{m}}^2}}}} \right)\\ {\rm{N}} = \left( {\frac{{{\rm{kg}} \cdot {\rm{m}}}}{{{{\rm{s}}^2}}}} \right) \end{array}\]Since $1\;{\rm{N}} = 1\;{{{\rm{kg}} \cdot {\rm{m}}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{\rm{kg}} \cdot {\rm{m}}} {{{\rm{s}}^2}}}} \right. } {{{\rm{s}}^2}}}$, therefore the given equation is dimensionally homogeneous.
The distance between the two spheres is the sum of the radius of both the spheres. It can be calculated as,
\[r = {r_s} + {r_s}\]Substitute the numeric value of radius of spheres in the above equation.
\[\begin{array}{c} r = 300\;{\rm{mm}} + 300\;{\rm{mm}}\\ = {\rm{600}}\;{\rm{mm}} \times \left( {\frac{{{{10}^{ - 3}}\;{\rm{m}}}}{{1\;{\rm{mm}}}}} \right)\\ = 0.600\;{\rm{m}} \end{array}\]The value of universal gravitational constant is $6.67 \times {10^{ - 11}}\;{{{{\rm{m}}^3}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{{\rm{m}}^3}} {{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{s}}^2}}}} \right. } {{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{s}}^2}}}$. Substitute the values of universal gravitational constant, both masses and distance between them.
\[\begin{array}{c} F = 6.67 \times {10^{ - 11}}\;\frac{{{{\rm{m}}^3}}}{{\left( {{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{s}}^2}} \right)}} \times \frac{{\left( {200\;{\rm{kg}}} \right) \times \left( {{\rm{200}}\;{\rm{kg}}} \right)}}{{{{\left( {0.6\;{\rm{m}}} \right)}^2}}}\\ = 7.41 \times {10^6}\;{{{\rm{kg}} \cdot {\rm{m}}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{\rm{kg}} \cdot {\rm{m}}} {{{\rm{s}}^2}}}} \right. } {{{\rm{s}}^2}}} \end{array}\]