Density of the Earth from Mount Schiehallion (Maskelyne)
Densidad de la Tierra con el monte Schiehallion (Maskelyne)
- Date
- 1774 · confidence high
- Place
- Schiehallion, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Nevil Maskelyne and Charles Hutton
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Maskelyne measured how much an isolated mountain deflects a plumb line from the astronomical vertical, and Charles Hutton, to compute the mountain's mass, surveyed its relief using contour lines. They obtained a mean Earth density of about 4.5 g/cm³ (now 5.51), higher than that of surface rocks.
Bouguer had already tried a similar experiment on Chimborazo (1738) with inconclusive results. Hutton's final value (1778) was 4.5 g/cm³.
What it led to
- proof that the Earth's interior is denser than the crust
- the use of contour lines in topographic mapping
- a precursor of Cavendish's experiment and of isostasy