Garden Gnome Tests Earth's Gravity

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%."

Re:This is why

[PacoCheezdom]

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

Wrong units

[mmontour]

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.