Re: Measurement of mass

[Maurice Barnhill <mvb@UDEL.EDU>]

I'll assume that you have the spring balance and the set of standard
masses from the beam balance.  Place your unknown mass on the spring
scale and note the reading.  Find a mass from the standard set which
produces the same reading on the spring scale.  Your unknown has the
same mass as the standard, independent of k(x) and with a substantial
reduction in sensitivity to g(x,y).  Both k and g must be independent of
time, however.

romanza wrote:
> Hi friends,
> There was a question I saw in a book:
> The measurement of mass can be done by a beam balance, which is reliable
> only if the gravitational field is uniform. A spring balance would measure
> the correct weight (hence mass) if the force constant k is constant. The
> question is then: is there a method to measure mass/weight which is
> independent of the two assumptions described (i.e. indept of g field and k)?
>
> rom

--
Maurice Barnhill, mvb@udel.edu
http://www.physics.udel.edu/~barnhill/
Physics Dept., University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716