Researchers use new method to calculate gravitational constant
Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 08:30
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) —A team of researchers in Europe has come up with a new way to determine the gravitational constant G. Rather than relying on using torque based techniques to measure gravitational pull, the researchers instead attempted to measure the attraction between a cloud of cold rubidium atoms and tungsten weights. They came up with a value for G of 6.67191(99) x 10−11 m3 kg−1 s−2. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team describes their technique in great detail, and suggest it can be used to further refine a value for G. Stephan Schlamminger offers a News & Views piece describing the new technique and what it might mean, in the same journal issue.