The value the researchers arrived at using this method is 2.2% higher than the current official value given by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology. Using laser devices, the team measured the motion of the two beams, and the measurement of this dynamic effect allowed them to infer the magnitude of the gravitational constant. After the researchers set one vibrating, gravitational coupling caused the second beam to also exhibit minimal movement (in the picometer range-i.e., one trillionth of a meter). The experimental setup consists of two beams suspended in vacuum chambers. To rule out sources of interference as far as possible, Dual’s team set up their measuring equipment in what used to be the Furggels fortress, located near Pfäfers above Bad Ragaz, Switzerland. He and his colleagues conducted a new experiment to redetermine the gravitational constant and have now presented their work in Nature Physics. “The only option for resolving this situation is to measure the gravitational constant with as many different methods as possible,” explains Jürg Dual, a professor in the mechanical and process engineering department at ETH Zurich. One reason gravity is extremely difficult to quantify is that it is a very weak force and cannot be isolated: when you measure the gravity between two bodies, you also measure the effect of all other bodies in the world. It is still less precise than the values of all the other fundamental natural constants-for example, the speed of light in a vacuum. Over the centuries, scientists have conducted numerous experiments to determine the value of G, but the scientific community isn’t satisfied with the current figure. The constant cannot be derived mathematically it has to be determined through experiment. It is part of Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation, which he first formulated more than 300 years ago. The gravitational constant G determines the strength of gravity-the force that makes apples fall to the ground or pulls the Earth in its orbit around the sun. The vertical intercept of the physics equation is the value of the vertical axis variable when the horizontal axis value is zero and will have the units of the vertical axis.Researchers have redetermined the gravitational constant G using a new measurement technique.Īlthough there is still a large degree of uncertainty regarding this value, the new method offers great potential for testing one of the most fundamental laws of nature.The slope of the physics equation may have an important physical meaning and is related to a quantity that remains constant throughout the experiment.We call this equation the physics equation since it is written in the variables from our experiment. Write the equation of the best fit line using the real physical variables from your experiment.Pick two points that are reasonably spaced (one near the beginning of the line and one near the end). Calculate the slope of your best fit line (with units) by selecting two points from the best fit line.Draw a best fit line USING A RULER! DO NOT CONNECT DOTS!!.If the new graph (using the calculated column) is straight, you have succeeded in linearizing your data.
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