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Garden Gnome Tests Earth's Gravity

Posted by samzenpus on from the he's-not-heavy dept.

sciencehabit writes "Researchers have long hypothesized that objects weigh less at Earth's equator because the planet's spin and shape lessen gravity's pull there versus at the poles. Satellite accelerometers have confirmed this, but a digital scale manufacturer decided to test things the old-fashioned way. Enter the Kern garden gnome. When placed on a scale at the South Pole, the intrepid ornament weighed 309.82 grams versus 307.86 grams at the equator, a difference of 0.6%."

11 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Garden Gnome Tests Earth's Gravity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So it has come to this.

    1. Re:Garden Gnome Tests Earth's Gravity? by NicknameAvailable · · Score: 5, Funny

      http://xkcd.com/1022/

  2. Re:This is why by PacoCheezdom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But if you bought them at the equator, you'd get a .6% discount! It's pay by weight, you know.

  3. Makes sense by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

    I know that, whenever I see a garden gnome, I feel a powerful urge to use it to test gravity. Especially if there's a large asphalt or cement driveway nearby.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  4. Wrong units... by MrKevvy · · Score: 5, Informative

    "When placed on a scale at the South Pole, the intrepid ornament weighed 309.82 grams versus 307.86 grams at the equator..."

    The grams is a unit of mass, which is invariant depending on gravity. The metric unit of weight is the kilopond.

    --
    -- Insert witty one-liner here. --
    1. Re:Wrong units... by PRMan · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's why we in the US still use pounds. That way, it's always accurate.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    2. Re:Wrong units... by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

      True. But in fact, these scales appear to measure things in kgf and cut off the f, giving 0.30982 kgf vs. 0.30786 kgf.

      Random related anecdote: I used to work for an e-tailer, and trade-legal scales used for calculating postage for goods to be shipped to a customer have to have buttons to calibrate for the gravity at any given latitude. In dimensional terms, this acts as a conversion factor from kgf to kg.

    3. Re:Wrong units... by suomynonAyletamitlU · · Score: 4, Informative

      Million-dolar spacecraft have been lost for less. Units matter.

      I don't know why a company that made scales would make that particular mistake, but then, if NASA can do it, who am I to judge.

  5. Re:This is why by NicknameAvailable · · Score: 4, Funny

    But if you bought them at the equator, you'd get a .6% discount! It's pay by weight, you know.

    He's clearly high.

  6. Hmm... by xstonedogx · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it also test the Earth's travelocity?

    (I'm so, so sorry. I'm a sick man. I need help.)

  7. Wrong units by mmontour · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's sometimes an acceptable shorthand to express a weight in grams, but not when that's the whole point of the story. The _mass_ in grams is (hopefully) not changing. The _weight_ in newtons (or any other dimensionally-correct unit you prefer) is what's changing.

    If you're using a device that measures weight and reports it in grams, then you need to re-calibrate it against a known reference mass at each new location.

    p.s. don't forget about buoyancy. Accurate measurements need to be done in a vacuum chamber.