Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-1-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021-resit/9/c/solution
Past exam of the physics 1 paper of the University of Oxford 2021 resit 9 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Let be the separation of the Earth and Moon, and let be the spacecraft's distance from the Earth's centre towards the Moon. On , the two gravitational forces oppose each other. Their equality, by Newton's law of universal gravitation, isTaking the positive square root givesThe centre of mass of the two bodies is at from the Earth's centre. Thus the gravitational field null between two point masses lies a distancefrom their centre of mass, on the Moon's side. With , and , soThe point is from the Moon. It is an instantaneous zero of the physical gravitational field, not a co-rotating Lagrange point: a spacecraft remaining fixed relative to the Earth-Moon line would need a nonzero centripetal acceleration. With zero net force it cannot follow that circular co-rotation.
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