Hi, I need help with this question. Thank you Cavendish’s original experiment wa

Question

Hi, I need help with this question. Thank you

Cavendish’s original experiment was described by him not as a measurement of G, the grav-itational constant, but rather as a measurement of the density of the Earth. In what sense is this a measurement of Earth’s density? (Hint: At the time of Cavendish’s experiments,around the end of the 18th century, several things were known from astronomical observa-tions, e.g. the size of the Earth and the size and shape of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth[and therefore the ratio of the masses of the Earth and the Moon].)

Explanation / Answer

From Cavendish experiment one can measure the gravitational force between large and small spheres by measuring the twisting force which balances the gravitaional force between two spheres.

Now gravitational force between sphere and the earth can be measured directly by weighing the sphere. Hence the ratio of these forces will give the density of the earth.

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