Answer :
Answer:
(Blank 1) gradually becomes stronger
(Blank 2) the strength of gravity follows an inverse square law with distance
Explanation:
Newton's law of universal gravitation tells us that [tex]F=G\frac{m_{1}m_{2} }{d^{2}}[/tex], which means that the gravitational force between two masses [tex]m_{1}[/tex] and [tex]m_{2}[/tex] increases as the distance between them decreases following an inverse square law. The fact that the cloud of interstellar gas collapses means that its particles get closer and closer, thus making the overall force of gravity stronger and stronger.
We can also easily see that the options "the mass of the cloud increases as it collapses" and "the total gravitational force is a conserved quantity" are wrong, the first one because we can assume under these conditions that the mass is conserved, and the last one because, as we saw, the gravitational force varies according to Newton's law of universal gravitation, thus it cannot be a conserved quantity.