Why does the earth exert a large gravitational force on more massive objects?

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From: Jhumki Basu (sjbasu@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Nov 10 2000 - 09:04:46 PST 

From: "Jhumki Basu" <sjbasu@hotmail.com>
Subject: Why does the earth exert a large gravitational force on more massive objects?
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 17:04:46 GMT
Message-ID: <F164WpSWerOc0Ne0PaL00000a18@hotmail.com>

We have been discussing Newton's 2nd Law in my Conceptual Physics class.
Yesterday we discussed the fact that the earth pulls more on more massive
objects but that they also have more inertia, so more massive objects
accelerate due to gravity the same amount as less massive objects.

A student asked why the earth exerts a greater gravitational force on more
massive objects than on less massive objects, and I responded using Newton's
3rd Law. A book pulls more on the earth than a paper does, and since each
force has a reaction pair that is equal and opposite, the force of the earth
on the book is greater than the force of the earth on the paper.

But I am not so satisfied with my answer. I feel that I avoided the essence
of her question. Any thoughts?

Jhumki Basu
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