The mass of the earth-moon system is somewhat less than the sum of the mass of the earth and the mass of the moon.

Name: The mass of the earth-moon system is somewhat less than the sum of the mass of the earth and the mass of the moon.
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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is because the system's total energy includes the gravitational potential energy, which is negative. When this energy is considered as part of the system's mass (via E=mc^2), the combined mass is slightly less than the simple sum of the Earth's and Moon's masses.

The Mass of the Earth-Moon System Is Somewhat Less Than