8.1 Answer the following :

(a) You can shield a charge from electrical forces by putting it inside a hollow conductor. Can you shield a body from the gravitational influence of nearby matter by putting it inside a hollow sphere or by some other means?

(b) An astronaut inside a small space ship orbiting around the earth cannot detect gravity. If the space station orbiting around the earth has a large size, can he hope to detect gravity?

(c) If you compare the gravitational force on the earth due to the sun to that due to the moon, you would find that the Sun’s pull is greater than the moon’s pull. (you can check this yourself using the data available in the succeeding exercises). However, the tidal effect of the moon’s pull is greater than the tidal effect of sun. Why?

(a) No, because gravitational force doesn't depend upon the material medium. It is independent of the presence of other materials.

(b) Yes, if the size of the space station is large then he can detect gravity.

(c) Apart from the gravitational pull, the tidal effect also depends upon the cube of the distance between the two. Since the distance between earth and sun is much larger than the distance between the sun and moon so it not also balances but is more than the effect of gravitational