
The Earth may be considered to be a uniform sphere of radius
with its mass of
concentrated at its center, as illustrated below.
A mass of
on the Equator rotates about the axis of the Earth with a period of
day (
).
Calculate, to three significant figures,
the gravitational force
of attraction between the mass and the Earth,
the centripetal force
on the
mass,
the difference in magnitude of the forces.