Question:
Answer the following : (a) You can shield a charge from electrical forces by putting it inside a hollow conductor. Can you shield a body from the gravitational influence of nearby matter by putting it inside a hollow sphere or by some other means ? (b) An astronaut inside a small space ship orbiting around the earth cannot detect gravity. If the space station orbiting around the earth has a large size, can he hope to detect gravity ? (c) If you compare the gravitational force on the earth due to the sun to that due to the moon, you would find that the Suns pull is greater than the moons pull. (you can check this yourself using the data available in the succeeding exercises). However, the tidal effect of the moons pull is greater than the tidal effect of sun. Why ?
Answer:
(a) We cannot shiwld a body from the gravitational influence of nearby matter, because the gravitational force on a body due to nearby matter is independent of the presence of other matter, whereas it is not so in case of electric forces. It means the gravitational screens are not possible.
(b) Yes, if the size of the space station is large enough, then the astronaut will detect the change in Earths gravity (g).
(c) Tidal effect depends inversely upon the cube of the distance while, gravitational force depends inversely on the square of the distance. Since the distance between the Moon and the Earth is smaller than the distance between the Sun and the Earth, the tidal effect of the Moon’s pull is greater than the tidal effect of the Suns pull.
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