Physics for the 21st Century

Classroom Resources > Physics for the 21st Century > 3. Gravity > 3.5 Extra: Tabletop Cavendish Gravity Experiment

Science

9-12, College/Adult

Extra: Tabletop Cavendish Gravity Experiment

Wolfgang Rueckner demonstrates a gravitational torsion balance, which is capable of measuring the gravitational attraction between little objects on the Earth.

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Physics for the 21st Century, Gravity: Tabletop Cavendish Gravity Experiment — Video Transcript

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Physics for the 21st Century

Credits

Produced by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Science Media Group in association with the Harvard University Department of Physics. 2010.

ISBN: 1-57680-891-2

Sections

3.1 Online Textbook

3.2 Gravity — Video

The study of gravity has played a central role in the history of science—from Galileo and Newton to Einstein's twentieth century theory of general relativity. Yet, in spite of five centuries of study, many aspects of gravity remain a mystery. How can gravity, which in many ways is the dominant force in the universe, be at the same time, by far, the weakest of the four known forces in nature? See how physicists are approaching this question through two topics of intense research in gravitational physics today: short-scale measurements of gravity's inverse-square law, and the search for ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves.

3.3 Interview with Featured Scientist Eric Adelberger

3.4 Interview with Featured Scientist Nergis Mavalvala

3.5 Extra: Tabletop Cavendish Gravity Experiment

Wolfgang Rueckner demonstrates a gravitational torsion balance, which is capable of measuring the gravitational attraction between little objects on the Earth.