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I'm still in high school and I need help on the discovery of the constant G: 6.67 x 10^(-11).

2007-03-20 14:22:00 · 3 answers · asked by meso 1 in Science & Mathematics Physics

3 answers

G is empirically determined. This means that a physicist with really precise and accurate tools performed an experiment and measured G.

2007-03-20 14:46:31 · answer #1 · answered by Yggdrasil 2 · 0 0

The first measurement of G was by Henry Cavendish, sometime before 1798. He got a value of 6.75 (plus or minus 0.07).

The best value agreed to by today's scientists is 6.6742 (plus or minus 10 in the last two digits) x 10^-11 N m^2 kg^-2. Some scientists have reported other values.

See the links for more information.

2007-03-20 14:48:55 · answer #2 · answered by morningfoxnorth 6 · 0 0

You can measure G yourself actually. The universal law of gravitation states F=G(((m_1)(m_2))/r^2) where r=distance between the two masses and F= force by gravity. Using newton's laws, we know F=MA so substituting this for F we can yields a_1=G((m_2)/r^2). We already know the acceleration due to gravity on the Earth and the mass of the earth, so plug these in and you are on your way to calculating G, albeit not as exactly as the aforementioned calculations.

2007-03-20 14:53:41 · answer #3 · answered by fx101 3 · 0 0

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