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title: "Two planets, Planet X and Planet Y, are separated by a center-to-center distance of \\(D\\). The mass of Planet X is \\(M_X\\) and the mass of Planet Y is \\(M_Y\\). The magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by Planet X on Planet Y is \\(F\\). If the mass of Planet X is tripled to \\(3M_X\\) while the mass of Planet Y and the distance \\(D\\) remain unchanged, what is the new magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by Planet X on Planet Y?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/114454/"
date_modified: "2026-07-03T04:36:43+00:00"
---

# Two planets, Planet X and Planet Y, are separated by a center-to-center distance of \(D\). The mass of Planet X is \(M_X\) and the mass of Planet Y is \(M_Y\). The magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by Planet X on Planet Y is \(F\). If the mass of Planet X is tripled to \(3M_X\) while the mass of Planet Y and the distance \(D\) remain unchanged, what is the new magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by Planet X on Planet Y?

Two planets, Planet X and Planet Y, are separated by a center-to-center distance of \(D\). The mass of Planet X is \(M_X\) and the mass of Planet Y is \(M_Y\). The magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by Planet X on Planet Y is \(F\). If the mass of Planet X is tripled to \(3M_X\) while the mass of Planet Y and the distance \(D\) remain unchanged, what is the new magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by Planet X on Planet Y?

![Two spheres labeled Planet X and Planet Y. A horizontal dashed line connects their centers, labeled with the distance D. Two equal-length arrows point toward each other from the centers of the planets, representing the mutual gravitational force F.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1783053402-n9MTnM.jpg)

- **A.** \(\dfrac{1}{3} F\)
- **B.** \(F\)
- **C.** \(3F\)
- **D.** \(9F\)

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/114454/*