What is the mass of the Earth?
The mass of the earth can easily be calculated using the Universal Gravitational Constant and gravity of the earth.
We know acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the earth is given by,
g = (G× M) / R2 …(1)
where
G is the Universal Gravitational Constant
R is the radius of the earth
g is the acceleration due to gravity
M is the mass of earth
We know that,
- G = 6.67 × 10-11 Nm2kg-2
- R = 6.38 × 106 m
- g = 9.8 m/s2
M =?
To calculate M substitute the above value in eq (1)
9.8 = (6.67 × 10-11 × M) / (6.38 × 106)2,
M = (9.8 × (6.38× 106)2) / (6.67 ×10-11)
M = 5.98 × 1024 kg
Thus, the mass of the Earth is 5.98 × 1024 kg
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