Cavendish experiment

Physics.

the experiment, conducted by Henry Cavendish, that determined the constant of gravitation by using a torsion balance and measuring the torsion produced by two masses placed at given distances from the masses on the balance.

* * *

Measurement of the force of gravitational attraction between pairs of lead spheres, which allowed the first calculation of the value of the universal gravitational constant, G.

Performed in 1797–98 by the British scientist Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) using a torsion balance, the experiment was popularly known as "weighing Earth," because determination of G permitted calculation of Earth's mass.

* * *

▪ physics

      measurement of the force of gravitational attraction between pairs of lead spheres, which thus allowed the first calculation of the value of the gravitational constant, G, the number expressing the proportionality between the attractive force exerted by two objects and the ratio of the product of their masses to the square of the distance between them (Newton's law of universal gravitation). The experiment was performed in 1797–98 by the English scientist Henry Cavendish (Cavendish, Henry). He followed a method prescribed and used apparatus built by his countryman, the geologist John Michell, who had died in 1793. The apparatus employed was a torsion balance, essentially a stretched wire supporting spherical weights. Attraction between pairs of weights caused the wire to twist slightly. The experiment was popularly known as weighing the Earth because determination of G permitted calculation of the Earth's mass.

* * *