Cavendish’s Torsional Pendulum

Design and Methodology

Cavendish's apparatus consisted of a horizontal bar suspended from a thin wire, with two

small lead spheres attached to each end. Larger lead spheres, acting as attracting masses, were

positioned near the smaller spheres. The entire apparatus was enclosed in a wooden shed to

minimize external disturbances. The delicate balance of the horizontal bar allowed measurement

of the tiny gravitational forces between the spheres.

Figure 1: Cavendish’s experimental design

The methodology involved careful observations of the torsion effect on the suspended bar

caused by the gravitational attraction between the small and large lead spheres. Cavendish used

telescopes positioned outside the shed to monitor the minute angular deflections of the bar,

providing quantitative data on the gravitational forces at play. To isolate the gravitational forces,

Cavendish employed a clever technique by adjusting the positions of the larger spheres and

making use of a mirror and scale apparatus to magnify the small angular displacements. This
allowed him to calculate the gravitational constant G, a fundamental constant in Newton's law of

universal gravitation.

Selecting Simulation

To find calculations for the gravitational constant, it became obvious at first that a

computer simulation was necessary. To recreate Cavendish’s experiment was nigh-impossible

for me, with the long time required and constant observations that had to be made as well as the

ensuring of the apparatus not being disturbed by anything that could potentially affect the motion

of the spheres, such as wind or even magnetic forces.

Thus, multiple computer simulations were analyzed. One such computer simulation came

from PHET. However, none of these simulations truly represented Cavendish’s apparatus except

for the simulation from the University of Louisville. This simulation gave the added benefit of

explaining the procedure used to calculate the values of the data that the simulation produced, as

well as explaining how to use the data to calculate the gravitation constant. It also allows for the

changing of values within the apparatus, such as the length of the central rod connecting the two

smaller spheres. It also gave a simplistic view of the apparatus that was easy to understand while

still being accurate to Cavendish’s original.

Figure 2: Simulation View

Methodology

In order to calculate the value for the gravitational constant, various equations must be used.

Isaac Newton derived an equation for the gravitational force of attraction between any two

objects, being

𝑚1 ∙ 𝑚2 ∙ 𝐺
𝐹 𝑔= 2
𝑑

With some rearrangement to isolate G, the equation is now

2
𝐹𝑔 ∙ 𝑑
𝐺=
𝑚1 ∙𝑚 2

While complex calculations involving various factors are needed to calculate the attractive force

due to gravity of the spheres towards the larger ones, the simulation simply provides the value

for that force. For this simulation, I kept both masses constant throughout each trial, instead

choosing to change the distance of each smaller sphere from the pivot of the rod, thus changing

the value of d. The masses chosen for this experiment are given below:

𝑚1=33.4 𝑘𝑔

𝑚2=0.78𝑘𝑔

Now, to calculate the distance in the formula, the formula as follows is needed, where

𝛼=¿The angle of zero torsion in the supporting string

𝜃=¿ The initial deflection angel as measured counterclockwise from 𝛼

𝑑= √ 𝐿21+ 𝐿22 −2 ⋅ 𝐿1 ⋅ 𝐿2 ⋅cos ( 𝛼 − 𝜃 )

 This formula is derived using the law of cosines. The rod connecting the two spheres can be

treated as the hypotenuse of a triangle, as the angle of zero torsion minus the initial deflection

angle can be treated as an angle for the triangle. This formula thus must be used to calculate the

distance needed in the formula for the constant and must be used for each trial of the experiment

as lengths and angle of zero torsions change. The initial deflection angle will always be the same

for this experiment, being 0 ° . For simplicity, both lengths for the spheres will always be

identical.

Raw Data

I input the following lengths into the simulation:

Trial 𝐿(m)
1 1.06
2 1.00
3 .96
4 .85
5 .80
6 .75
7 .70
8 .65
9 .61
10 .55
11 .50
12 .45
After inputting these lengths, I received the following data from the simulation after a sizeable

amount of time passed and the spheres stopped oscillating towards and away from the larger

spheres:

Trial 𝐹 𝑔 (± .01nN) 𝛼 ( ± .001° )

1 53.52 14.554
2 60.51 14.554
3 65.97 14.554
4 85.49 14.554
 5 97.31 14.554
6 111.95 14.554
7 130.09 14.554
8 153.09 14.554
9 176.27 14.554
10 222.59 14.554
11 265.43 14.554
12 265.12 14.554
Processed Data

As it turned out, 𝛼 was a constant 14.554° . Since both 𝛼 and 𝜃were constants, for every trial

cos (𝛼 − 𝜃 )=

cos (14.554 −𝜃 )=

0.96791123283

This value is constant for all trials.

By inputting the length values for every single trial, the following values for d can be obtained:

Trial d( ± .005𝑚 )
1 0.27
2 0.25
3 0.24
4 0.22
5 0.20
6 0.19
7 0.18
8 0.17
9 0.16
10 0.14
11 0.13
12 0.11
From these values 𝑑 2 is attainable, as follows:

Trial 𝑑 2 ( ±.0005 𝑚2 )
1 0.072
 2 0.064
3 0.059
4 0.046
5 0.041
6 0.036
7 0.031
8 0.027
9 0.024
10 0.019
11 0.016
12 0.013
1
To calculate G, the slope of a graph of 𝐹 𝑔 𝑣𝑠 2 divided by
𝑚1 ∙𝑚2 can be found. The values for
𝑑

1
2 are in the table below.
𝑑

Trial 1
𝑑
2( 𝑚
1
± .5 2
)
1 14
2 16
3 17
4 22
5 24
6 28
7 32
8 37
9 42
10 53
11 63
12 77

Using these values, a graph can be formulated using Excel which displays a trendline that gives

the slope of the graph too. This trendline’s slope can be divided by both masses multiplied to

give an estimate for the value of G using the simulation.

The previous values give the graph:

The slope of the best-fit line plotted is 4 ∙10− 9. Now, plugging this slope into the equation for G

gives:

−9
4 ∙10
𝐺=
𝑚1 ⋅𝑚2

−9
4 ∙ 10
𝐺=
33.4 ⋅ 0.78

( )
2
− 10 −12 𝑁 ∙𝑚
𝐺=1.54 ⋅10 ±5.5 ∙ 10 2
𝑘𝑔

By plotting a bar chart, this common factor can be seen better.

The stair pattern in the data indicates the presence of the common factor, calculated to be
2
−10 −12 𝑁 ∙𝑚
1.54 ∙ 10 ±5.5 ∙ 10 2 .
𝑘𝑔