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@tbates
Last active December 20, 2015 23:08
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Does a midwife or Jupiter exert more gravitational pull on a baby at birth?
# Things you should learn in school: Be able to answer any question of the form:
# "Which has more gravitational pull on a baby as it is born: the midwife, or the planet Jupiter?"
# baby ~ 5 kg
# Distance and mass of [Jupiter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter)
gravitationalAttraction <- function(G = 6.674E-11, m1, m2, r){
# G = 6.674E-11 # [Gravitational constant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_law_of_universal_gravitation): N m^2 kg^-2
G * (m1 * m2)/r^2
}
# 1.8986E27 kg of Jupiter @ 778E9 * .8 m (about 5.2 × the distance of earth from the sun, so say 80% of this
Fjupiter = gravitationalAttraction(m1 = 5, m2 = 1.8986E27, r = 778E9 * .8)
# 50 kg of midwife at 1m
Fmidwife = gravitationalAttraction(m1 = 5, m2 = 50, r = 1); # 50kg midwife @ 1m distance
c(Fmidwife = Fmidwife, Fjupiter = Fjupiter, PlanetMinuswife = Fjupiter - Fmidwife, ratio = Fjupiter/Fmidwife)
# How heavy a mid-wife do we need (at a distance of 1m?)
Fmidwife = gravitationalAttraction(m1 = 5, m2 = 4902, r = 1); # about 5 tons!
c(PlanetMinuswife = Fjupiter - Fmidwife, ratio = Fjupiter/Fmidwife)
# What if the midwife is really close?
Fmidwife = gravitationalAttraction(m1 = 5, m2 = 445, r = .3);
c(Fmidwife = Fmidwife, Fjupiter = Fjupiter, PlanetMinuswife = Fjupiter - Fmidwife)
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