What makes the pull of gravity stronger or weaker

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Pull-arrow diagram

   Two balls a set distance apart; four change cards beside them.

2. 1.

   Esme starts with two balls a set distance apart. Which change makes the pull between them strongest?

   • Halve both masses and move them apart
   • Keep the masses and move them apart
   • Double both masses and move them closer
   • Paint both balls a darker color so they look heavier
3. 2.

   Starting from the same two balls, which change makes the pull between them weakest, by Jun's reasoning?

   • Same mass, but closer together
   • Less mass and farther apart
   • More mass and closer together
   • Make both balls warmer so they pull less on each other
4. 3.

   A spacecraft flies away from Earth toward the Moon. What happens to Earth's pull on it along the way, as Kira explains?

   • It keeps getting weaker but never reaches zero
   • It stops completely once the spacecraft leaves the air
   • It gets stronger farther out
   • It stays exactly the same
5. 4.

   “Drawing, not to scale:” Luz's friend says there is no gravity in space, and that is why astronauts float. Which response is best?

   • Agree: space is too far for gravity to reach
   • Disagree: astronauts float because they are lighter than air
   • Agree: astronauts lose their mass in space
   • Disagree: gravity there is about 90% as strong; they float because they fall
6. 5.

   A video says heavy things fall faster than light things even with no air at all. Milo checks it. Which response is best?

   • Agree: the Apollo 15 hammer beat the feather
   • Agree: more mass means a faster fall, air or no air
   • Disagree: light things fall faster when there is no air to slow them
   • Disagree: without air, objects fall at the same rate

7. Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), NASA values, with columns Planet, Mass (10²⁴ kg) and Gravity (m/s²)

   Earth, mass 5.97 (×10²⁴ kg), gravity 9.8 m/s²; Jupiter, mass 1,898 (×10²⁴ kg), gravity 23.1 m/s²; Saturn, mass 568 (×10²⁴ kg), gravity 9.0 m/s².

8. 6.

   Using the NASA table, about how much would Pia's 12 lb backpack weigh at Jupiter's cloud tops?

   • About 5 lb, since Jupiter is so far away from the Sun
   • About 3,800 lb, since Jupiter has 318 times the mass
   • About 28 lb
   • About 12 lb, since mass stays the same
9. 7.

   And at Saturn's cloud tops, about how much would the same 12 lb backpack weigh, using the same NASA table, by Ren's math?

   • About 11 lb, a little less than on Earth
   • About 12 lb, since weight stays the same everywhere
   • About 1,140 lb, since Saturn has 95 times the mass
   • 0 lb, since Saturn is made of gas
10. 8.

    Earth 9.8; Pluto 0.7. A 30 kg box sits first on Earth and then on Pluto, where gravity is 0.7 m/s². What stays the same, and what changes, says Tala?

    • Both stay just the same
    • Its mass stays 30 kg; its weight on Pluto is much less
    • Its mass drops on Pluto; its weight stays the same
    • Both drop to zero once the box reaches faraway Pluto
11. 9.

    “not to scale” Zee draws pull arrows for Earth and the Moon: a long arrow on the Moon toward Earth, and no arrow on Earth. What is wrong?

    • The Moon's arrow should point away from Earth, not toward it
    • Nothing; the Moon does not pull Earth
    • Earth should get a much longer arrow than the Moon
    • Earth needs an equal arrow pointing toward the Moon
12. 10.

    Poster drawing with the words "On the Moon, you have less mass." A space-camp poster says, "On the Moon, you have less mass." Which fix does Bo suggest?

    • Nothing; mass changes with gravity
    • You have more mass on the Moon, since you can jump higher there
    • You weigh nothing on the Moon
    • You have less weight on the Moon; your mass stays the same