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
   • Make both balls warmer so they pull less on each other
   • Less mass and farther apart
   • More mass and closer together
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 gets stronger farther out
   • It stops completely once the spacecraft leaves the air
   • It stays exactly the same
   • It keeps getting weaker but never reaches zero
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?

   • 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
   • Agree: space is too far for gravity to reach
6. 5.

   Noah's cousin says a small rock does not pull on Earth at all. Which response is best?

   • Disagree: the rock pulls Earth with equal force; Earth barely moves
   • Agree: just the bigger object pulls
   • Agree: small things like rocks have no gravity of their own
   • Disagree: the rock pulls Earth harder than Earth pulls it

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

   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?

   • Its mass drops on Pluto; its weight stays the same
   • Both stay just the same
   • Both drop to zero once the box reaches faraway Pluto
   • Its mass stays 30 kg; its weight on Pluto is much less
10. 8.

    “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?

    • 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
    • The Moon's arrow should point away from Earth, not toward it
11. 9.

    Ari's model shows Earth's pull on a ball getting stronger as the ball moves farther away. What is wrong with it?

    • The arrows should get shorter as the ball moves away
    • Nothing; farther away means a stronger pull
    • Heavier balls should fall faster in the model
    • The ball should feel no pull from Earth
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?

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