How is the mass of the earth calculated?

Question

How is the mass of the earth calculated?

2 Answers

Impact of this question

21917 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2016-04-17T11:03:27

See below.

Explanation:

We can approximate the mass using the formula for density which relates mass and volume of the object.

Density = mass/Volume

If the Earth's diameter is known and we assume the earth is spherical we can calculate the volume from

$V = \frac{4}{3} π r_{3}$ $V = 4/3pi r_3$

Using an average density we could then approximate the mass of the Earth.

With todays modern technology and the use of satellites we can get a more accurate figure for the volume.

Answer 2 · 2016-04-18T12:38:30

$5.97 X 10^{24}$ $5.97 X 10^24$ kg, nearly.

Explanation:

A formula for approximating mass of the Earth:

$m = r^{2} \frac{g}{G}$ $m = r^2g/G$ ,
r = Earth radius =6378 km,
g = acceleration due to Earth's gravity =0.0098 km/ $s^{2}$ $s^2$ and
G - gravitational constant = 6.67 E-20 ${(k g)}^{- 1} {(k m)}^{- 3} (s) (- 2)$ $(kg)^(-1)(km)^(-3)(s)(-2)$

Units are compatible, in both dimensions and units,.

#So, m =(6378^2)(0.0098)/(6.67 E-20) kg = 5.97 E+24 kg.

Science

Math

Humanities

... and beyond

How is the mass of the earth calculated?

2 Answers

Explanation:

Explanation:

Related questions

Impact of this question