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The Weight of the Earth

Abstract

“THE REVIEWER” makes a number of statements which he does not stop to prove; as, for instance, when he says that “the weight of a body would be practically nothing if the body was removed to a few million miles from the earth.” But an appeal to experiment will show that the weight is unaltered. To fix the ideas, consider an astronomical or astrological chart, in which the earth is at the centre of a Zodiacal circle. Now, if a 100-ton gun is weighed in the scales of Libra, the weights required for equilibrium, as given by the lumps of metal in the other scale pan, will amount to exactly 100 tons; so that the weight of 100 tons at the distance of the Zodiacal circle, or at any other distance, is exactly 100 tons.

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GREENHILL, A. The Weight of the Earth. Nature 50, 52–53 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/050052c0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/050052c0

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