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1770s
- The mass of the Earth was first measured with any accuracy (within about 20% of the correct value) in the Schiehallion experiment in the 1770s, and within 1% of the modern value in the Cavendish experiment of 1798.
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The mass of the Earth was first measured with any accuracy (within about 20% of the correct value) in the Schiehallion experiment in the 1770s, and within 1% of the modern value in the Cavendish experiment of 1798.
Mar 31, 2024 · Earth's mass took hundreds of years to estimate, and even now, experts don't agree on the exact number. Earth weighs as much as 13 quadrillion pyramid of Khafres at Giza in Egypt.
Newton's law of universal gravitation was the first step to measuring the mass of Earth. Scientists had the idea to hang a pendulum near a mountain. The Earth's gravity would pull the pendulum down, but the mountain's gravity would pull it towards the mountain.
Sep 15, 2023 · Calculating Earth's Mass. Assume that Earth is one of the masses (M1) and a 1-kg sphere is the other (M2). The force between them is 9.8 kg x m/s 2 — we can calculate this force by dropping the 1-kilogram sphere and measuring the acceleration that the Earth's gravitational field applies to it (9.8 m/s 2).
- Howstuffworks
Sep 3, 2021 · The mass of the Earth can be determined by the so called Cavendish experiment. Henry Cavendish used an apparatus to determine the gravitational constant G which appears in the full equation for the gravitational force: $$ F = {Gm_1m_2\over R^2} $$
In 1798 Cavendish measured the force between attracting lead spheres with a torsion balance. He knew the masses of the spheres and how far apart they were. He carefully measured the force between them, which allowed him to calculate G. G is incredibly small, 0.0000000000667310 Nm2/kg2. (G is known only to the six decimal places.)
Oct 19, 2023 · It all began with Newton and his Principia. Well, perhaps a bit earlier, as many ancient scholars had tried their hand at measuring the mass of the Earth (I’m looking at you, Eratosthenes), but no one could get it right, because no one understood the density of the entire planet.