A Measurement of Newton's Gravitational Constant

TL;DR

This paper reports a highly precise measurement of Newton's gravitational constant G using a beam balance, with detailed analysis of calibration, nonlinearity, and zero-point effects, resulting in a value with minimized uncertainties.

Contribution

It presents a novel high-precision measurement of G with careful calibration and error analysis, improving the accuracy over previous determinations.

Findings

Measured G as 6.674252(109)(54) x 10^{-11} m^3 kg^{-1} s^{-2}

Achieved relative statistical uncertainty of 16.3 x 10^{-6}

Achieved relative systematic uncertainty of 8.1 x 10^{-6}

Abstract

A precision measurement of the gravitational constant $G$ has been made using a beam balance. Special attention has been given to determining the calibration, the effect of a possible nonlinearity of the balance and the zero-point variation of the balance. The equipment, the measurements and the analysis are described in detail. The value obtained for G is 6.674252(109)(54) 10^{-11} m3 kg-1 s-2. The relative statistical and systematic uncertainties of this result are 16.3 10^{-6} and 8.1 10^{-6}, respectively.