Abstract
The Newtonian gravitational constant G was the first known fundamental constant of physics. Nevertheless, the measurement of its value still seem to be in a rather sad shape. Recently, the CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants recommended a preliminary value of G with a relative uncertainty of 0.15 %. This is more than ten times larger as the previous recommendation!
In the first part of this lecture, a brief summary is given of recent experimental efforts to determine G. The second part is a description of our experiment at the University of Zürich.
We use a beam balance to measure the gravitational forces of large field masses (13.5 × 103 kg mercury) on 1 kg test masses. A first result with an uncertainty of 220 × 10?6 has been published recently. Presently we are working to improve the experiment.
The Committee on Data for Science and Technology of the International Council of Scientific Unions.
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Schlamminger, S., Holzschuh, E., Kündig, W., Nolting, F., Schurr, J. (2001). Determination of the Gravitational Constant. In: Lämmerzahl, C., Everitt, C.W.F., Hehl, F.W. (eds) Gyros, Clocks, Interferometers...: Testing Relativistic Graviy in Space. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 562. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-40988-2_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-40988-2_2
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