Measure the least gravitational force

2021/03/10 Etxebeste Aduriz, Egoitz - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika

Researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences have measured the least gravitational force that has been measured so far. The gravitational force between two golden spheres of a millimeter radius has been measured. The experiment has been explained in the journal Nature.

Gravity is a fundamental force, but it does not correspond to the standard model of physics that encompasses the other forces and elementary particles, nor to quantum mechanics. One way to unravel the mysteries of gravity is the hope that can be to measure gravitational forces between small objects. And in that way this measurement is one more step. In fact, it is very difficult to separate the gravitational force between this type of small masses from the rest of the disturbances in the environment.

In this case they have managed to measure the gravitational force of two spheres of gold of 90 mg and have verified that for these masses Newtonian physics is well fulfilled, that is, that the gravitational force depends on the mass and the distance. Researchers point out that their experiment can allow measurements with even smaller masses.