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Two identical particles, each of mass m, go round a circle of radius a under the action of their mutual gravitational attraction. The angular speed of each particle will be

Asked in JEE Main 15th April 1st Shift 2023 · Mutual gravitation and binary systems

• (1) √(Gm)/(2a³)
• (2) √(Gm)/(a³)
• (3) √(Gm)/(8a³)
• (4) √(Gm)/(4a³)

Step-by-step solution

Why the other options are wrong

• (1) Comes from writing the square of the separation as 2a² instead of (2a)²=4a².
• (2) Comes from taking the separation between the particles as a, the radius of the circle, rather than the diameter.
• (3) Comes from using 2a as the radius of the circular path as well, so the centripetal term becomes mω²(2a).

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