Acceleration due to gravity on the moon – Rankers Physics
Topic: Gravitation
Subtopic: Acceleration Due to Gravity and its variation

Acceleration due to gravity on the moon

For moon, its mass is $\frac{1}{81}$ of earth mass and its diameter is $\frac{1}{3.7}$ of earth diameter. If acceleration due to gravity at earth surface is $9.8\text{ m/s}^2$ then at moon its value is:

(1999)

$2.86\text{ m/s}^2$
$1.65\text{ m/s}^2$
$8.65\text{ m/s}^2$
$5.16\text{ m/s}^2$

Solution:

Using $g \propto \frac{M}{R^2}$, we have $g_m = g_e \times (\frac{M_m}{M_e}) \times (\frac{R_e}{R_m})^2$. Substituting the values: $g_m = 9.8 \times \frac{1}{81} \times (3.7)^2 \approx 1.65\text{ m/s}^2$.

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