The force of attraction between two masses can be calculated using Newton's law of universal gravitation, which states that the force of gravity between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
The formula to calculate the gravitational force is:
F = (G * m1 * m2) / r^2
where: F is the force of attraction, G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.67430 × 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2), m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects, and r is the distance between the centers of the masses.
In this case, the masses are 5 kg and 8 kg, and the distance is 60 cm, which is equivalent to 0.6 meters.
Plugging the values into the formula:
F = (6.67430 × 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2 * 5 kg * 8 kg) / (0.6 m)^2
Calculating this expression:
F = (6.67430 × 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2 * 40 kg^2) / 0.36 m^2
F = (2.66972 × 10^-9 N * kg) / m^2
Thus, the force of attraction between the two masses is approximately 2.66972 × 10^-9 Newtons.