Halliday, Resnick & Walker — Gravitation: Problem Problem_2

Figure 13.2 shows three arrangements of the same identical particles, with three of them placed on a circle of radius \(0.20 \text{ m}\) and the fourth one placed at the center of the circle. (a) Rank the arrangements according to the magnitude of the net gravitational force on the central particle due to the other three particles, greatest first. (b) Rank them according to the gravitational potential energy of the four-particle system, least negative first.