We are unlikely to find a very precise answer to this question, but nothing prevents us from estimating at least an approximate mass of our house. Just as people weigh much less on the moon than their own country, the Earth does not weigh a single thing. The weight of the Earth depends on the gravitational force acting on itScientists say this means it could weigh trillions of kilograms or do nothing.

How much does the earth weigh?

Scientists have been trying to determine the mass of our home planet for centuries. According to official data released today, the number is equal 5.9722 × 1024 kilograms or approximately 13.1 septillion pounds. This is equivalent to approximately 13 quadrillion of the Egyptian Khafre pyramid, which itself weighs approximately 4.8 billion kilograms. At the same time, the Earth’s mass fluctuates slightly due to the addition of cosmic dust and gases escaping from our atmosphere, but these small changes do not have a major impact over billions of years.

But physicists around the world still can’t agree on decimal numbers. And reaching this total number was no easy task. Since it was not possible to put the Earth on a scale, scientists had to find its mass with the help of other measurable objects.

The first component was Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation. Everything that has mass also has gravity; This means that there will always be a certain force between any two objects.

Using this equation, scientists can theoretically measure the mass of the Earth by measuring the force of the planet’s gravity on an object on the Earth’s surface. But there was a problem: No one could determine the number of G.

Second step

In 1797, physicist Henry Cavendish initiated what became known as the Cavendish Experiments. Using an object called a torsion balance, which consisted of two rotating rods with lead balls attached to them, Cavendish found the magnitude of the gravitational force between the two groups by measuring the angle on the rods that changed as the smaller balls were attracted to each other. larger ones. His work was very original and made a huge impact at the time.

Knowing the mass and the distance between the spheres, Cavendish calculated: W = 6.74×10-11m³ kg-1 s-2. Today, the Data Committee of the International Science Council calls a number that differs by only a few decimal places from the original Cavendish number: 6.67430 x 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2.

Since then, scientists have used G to calculate the mass of the Earth using other objects with known masses, arriving at the figure we know today of 13.1 septillion pounds.

Although more than two centuries have passed since Cavendish’s experiment, the torsional balance method is still used today. But while Newton’s equations and torsional balances are important tools, the measurements they provide remain prone to human error. In the centuries since Cavendish’s experiments, different scientists measured G dozens of times, each with slightly different results. There’s only a difference of a few thousandths between the numbers, but it’s enough to change the calculation of Earth’s mass and worry the scientists who measure it.