As absurd as it may seem, it is indeed possible to measure the mass of the Earth, in fact: the method required for this was developed hundreds of years ago.
In the late 1600s Isaac Newton created the universal law of gravitation: any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force (F) that is directly proportional to their mass (m) and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them (r).
At that time, however, Newton believed that the method he presented did not work for different celestial bodies. However, the scientist was wrong. Knowing the mass and density of Earth was very important to astronomers as it could help them calculate the density and mass of other objects in the Solar System. For this reason, the “Attraction Committee” was established in 1772.
And after many experiments, they managed to show serious results, since after studying a mountain in Scotland, they were able to calculate the density of the Earth.
And in 1797, the great plan succeeded, which made it possible to calculate the mass of the Earth. First, geologist John Michell tried to solve the “riddle”, but he died in the meantime. The project was finally completed by Henry Cavendish, who carried out the various experiments using Michell’s equipment.
Using a torsion balance, the scientist was able to measure the force between two metal spheres at a known distance from each other. The earth’s gravitational force on the smaller sphere could be calculated, and the density of the spheres was also known.
Cavendish then determined, after long calculations and tests, that the mass of the Earth, approx 5,974,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms, somewhat simpler: almost 6 quadrillion kilogram.
2023-06-15 09:37:08
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