Earth and the Moon gravitationally attract each other. Does the more massive Earth attract the Moon with a greater force, the same force, or less force than the Moon attracts Earth? What reasoning guides your answer?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The force between each is the same, in accord with Newton's Third Law. Note also from Newton's formula for gravitation that the force does not depend on the order of the masses, but depends simply on the product.