How did scientists from before 1900’s measure the Earth’s weight and other planets/stars
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The Cavendish experiment in the late 1700s found the density of the earth within 1% of actual by seeing how two massive objects interacted via gravity.
Newton’s law of gravity states that the force from gravity between two objects is equal to the “gravitational constant” multiplied by the product of their masses divided by the distance between their center of masses squared. F= G(m1)(m2)/r^(2).
He didn’t directly measure what we call the gravitational constant, G, but his experiment gives the necessary data. By measuring the force the two known masses exert on each other, as well as their distance, G can be derived. Then, because we know the radius of earth (r) and the mass of some object (m) and its weight (F) then the mass of the earth (M) can be found. M=F(r^(2))/(mG)
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