The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1906-12-05
WEIGHT OF THE SUN.
HOW THE ASTRONOMERS SOLVE
THIS WONDERFUL PROBLEM.

THIS WONDERFUL PROBLEM.
If You Will Multiply 333, ,2G4 by Sever,
Scxtillions, You Will Get Approxi-
ter Contained In the Great Orb.
TO weigh the sun, moon, earth or
any other body, said Professor Edgar
L. Larkin, the celebrated director Of
Echo Mountain observatory, to the
writer, is not very difficult matter,
though to those ignorant of astronomy
and mathematics it would perhaps ap-
pear so. Of course weight is merely a
relative term, for at the exact center
OF gravity a body weighs nothing at
all. Weight varies as we approach the
grayitation point or recede from it,
and the expression as employed in ev-
eryday life-when we buy pound Of
steak or ton Of coals-simply means
the weight used on the surface Of the
earth because we live there.
Now, supposing you are desirous OF
weighing the earth, how would you go
about it? Well, if your education had
been neglected and you We're in conse-
auence ignorant Of mathematics you
might decide to cut up this terrestrial
globe of ours in blocks and bring each
block to the surface of the earth and
there weigh it on an ordinary pair OF
scales. The operation would doubtless
be 4 costly and fatisuing one, and per-
haps many unscientifc landowners
might object to your carrying off their
property even though you explained
that it was merely as q temporary
loan But let us for arguments sake
suppose that you succeeded.
Well. having carried each block to
the surface (and many of them would,
Of course, have been brought from the
very center Of the earth) one at
time (returning each to its proper place
before weighing the next and having
discovered that each block weighed
ton, then before your labors ended and
the last block of earth had been placed
on the scales you would have dealt
with rather less than seven sextilllons.
This of course is a tremendous num-
Der Of tons for any moving mass to
weigh. but there is time twice each
wear when the earth actually weighs
nothing at all. In October last TINS
earth gradually began to lose WelGhe
like some huge giant dying OF de-
cline until at 4 certain moment OF tlllle
il weighed only an ounce. then half an
ounce. then quarter. and finally. just
for about the fifty -thousandth part OF
a second, it weighed absolutely nothing
whatever-not even so much US soap
bubble which q baby might blow away
To realize this you must remember
that the earth does not travel round
the sun in an exact circle, so that the
distance from the sun is always vary
ing, which Of course alters the power
Of attraction or, in other words, the
earth's weight. But in October ana
April Of each year the earth is at all
exact average distance during the frac-
ton of 4 second. at which time, as
have said before, it weighs nothing.
How short 4 space Of time this is may
be judged from the fact that the earth
moves at the rate Of eighteen and a
half miles every second.
But to weigh the earth in the manner
suggested would be very costly mat
ter, and 50 it is found to be more sat
isfactory to employ mathematics. when
we shall arrive at the same results, as
suming Of course that we are correct
in our deductions. And now as to the
most usual means employed in weigh
ing the sun. Having satisfied ourselves
as to the true weight of the earth, we
call that One or Unity" That is
the basis on which we work.
The next thing to do is to mount to
some elevation-the top of tower or
the roof of house will answer our
purpose very well-drop stone and
find out how far it will fall in one sec
ond Of time and what its exact rate Of
speed will be at the end Of the first
second.
This is not SO easy as it sounds, Dur
we can spare ourselves the fatigue OF
calculating. for after 800 years scien-
fists have by means of the most dell
cate instruments arrived at the proved
conclusion that at the end Of the hrst
second the stone will be at distance
of 16.1 feet from the starting point and
will be then travelling at the rate OF
32.2 feet per second. This 32.2 is the
most important factor in our calcula-
tions and has been called the astro-
nomical scales, for by means Of it we
can weigh the sidereal universe.
Now, here, said Professor Larkin,
taking q paper from bis desk, is an ar
ticle which wrote some time ago on
the weighing oil the sun, and do not
think YOU can do better than make an
extract from it, which will save me
much needless repetition, and he hand
ed me the manuscript, from which L
quote the following paragraphs:
Every object in the celestial vault
seen by the eye OF man IS I 1alllns
body. The earth is q body forever fall
Ing toward the sun and the moon for
ever toward the earth. If we can find
with what speed the earth is falling to-
ward the sun at the end Of our exact
second clew is obtained that will lead
through a maze Of figures to the mass
Of the sun. This must be true, Tor 1t
has been discovered that if the earth
contained quadruple its present quan-
tity Of matter the stone would fall at
the rate Of GA feet per second. And
Newton discovered that If the stone be
taken 1858 miles away from the earth
and dropped its speed at the end OF the
first second will be sos feet. But 3,9oS
miles from the earth is twice as far
from the center as is the surface, and
8 O3 feet is one-fourth of 32.2. But is