14.

2 MEASURING THE GRAVITATIONAL CONSTANT

The universal gravitational constant G was measured in an important experiment

by Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) in 1798. The Cavendish apparatus consists of two
small spheres, each of mass m, fixed to the ends of a light horizontal rod suspended by
a fine fiber or thin metal wire, as illustrated in Figure 14.3. When two large spheres,
each of mass M, are placed near the smaller ones, the attractive force between smaller
and larger spheres causes the rod to rotate and twist the wire suspension to a new
equilibrium orientation. The angle of rotation is measured by the deflection of a light
beam reflected from a mirror attached to the vertical suspension. The deflection of the
light is an effective technique for amplifying the motion. The experiment is carefully
repeated with different masses at various separations. In addition to providing a value
for G, the results show experimentally that the force is attractive, proportional to the
product mM, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance r.

Figure 14.3 Schematic diagram of the Cavendish

apparatus for measuring G. As the small spheres of
mass m are attracted to the large spheres of mass M,
the rod between the two small spheres rotates
through a small angle. A light beam reflected from a
mirror on the rotating apparatus measures the angle
of rotation. The dashed line represents the original
position of the rod.

EXAMPLE 14.1 Billiards, Anyone?

Three 0.300-kg billiard balls are placed on a table at the corners of a right triangle,
as shown in Figure 14.4. Calculate the gravitational force on the cue ball (designated
m1) resulting from the other two balls.

Solution First we calculate separately the individual forces on the cue ball due to
the other two balls, and then we find the vector sum to get the resultant force. We can
see graphically that this force should point upward and toward the right. We locate our
coordinate axes as shown in Figure 14.4, placing our origin at the position of the cue
ball. The force exerted by m2 on the cue ball is directed upward and is given by :
 This result shows that the gravitational forces
between everyday objects have extremely small
magnitudes. The force exerted by m3 on the cue
ball is directed to the right:

Figure 14.4 The resultant Therefore, the resultant force on the cue ball is
gravitational force acting on the
cueball is the vector sum F21 =
F31 .

and the magnitude of this force is

Exercise Find the direction of F.

Answer 29.3° counterclockwise from the positive x axis.