Question
In a binary star system, two stars orbit about their common center of mass, as shown in FIGURE $12-39 .$ If $r_{2}=2 r_{1},$ what is the ratio of the masses $m_{2} / m_{1}$ of the two stars?
Step 1
The center of mass is calculated by taking the sum of the masses multiplied by their distance from the center of mass from a given point. In this case, we can denote the center of mass as the origin of x and y. So, we have the equation: \[m_{1}r_{1} + m_{2}r_{2} = Show more…
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