Lacoste and Romberg Gravimeter
name: label: maker
content: LaCoste & Romberg
notes: label: Description
content: Gravimeters (gravity meters) are extremely precise instruments that measure the earth’s gravity at a specific location. Gravimeters are often used by prospectors to locate subterranean deposits of valuable natural resources (mainly petroleum) as well as by geodesists to study the shape of the earth and its gravitational field. Differences in topography, latitude, or elevation—as well as differences in subterranean density—all affect the force of gravity. Commonly, gravimeters are composed of a weight hanging on a zero-length spring inside a metal housing to negate the influence of temperature and wind. Gravity is then measured by how much the weight stretches the spring.
label: Description
content: This is a cutaway model showing the zero-length spring that forms the heart of every LaCoste & Romberg gravimeter. LaCoste & Romberg, Inc. donated it to the Smithsonian in 1967.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture and Natural Resources
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: LaCoste and Romberg, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.MHI-P-9375
label: catalog number
content: MHI-P-9375
label: accession number
content: 272439
objectType: label: Object Name
content: gravity meter, La Coste-Romberg
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 52 cm x 16 cm x 34 cm; 20 15/32 in x 6 5/16 in x 13 3/8 in