An object in the shape of a thin ring has radius a and mass M. A uniform sphere with mass m and radius R is placed with its center at a distance x to the right of the center of the ring, along a line through the center of the ring, and perpendicular to its plane (see Fig. E13.33). What is the gravitational force that the sphere exerts on the ring-shaped object? Show that your result reduces to the expected result when x is much larger than a.

Figure E13.33:

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