Re: A Determination of the Gravitational Constant

[Ludwik Kowalski <KowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>]

At this level of accuracy they will probably start investigating the
effect of chemical composition (of the perturbing mass) on G.
Stars are mostly hydrogen; our planet is not.

brian whatcott wrote:

> Science Week reported the following this week:
>
> ... ... J.P. Scwarz et al (4 authors at 3 installations, US) now
> report an experiment that uses the gravity field of a one-half
> metric ton source mass to perturb the trajectory of a free-
> falling  mass, and *laser interferometry to track the falling
> object. The authors state that since this experiment does not
> suspend the test mass from a support system, it is therefore free
> of many systematic errors associated with supports. The authors
> report the measured value of the gravitational constant as 6.6873
> +- 0.0094 x 10^(-11) m^(3) (kg)^(-1) sec^(-2), where m is meters,
> (kg) is kilograms, and sec is seconds.