Girls’ world record attempt to measure gravity

• Dr Molecule
• 4 years ago
• Categories: BBC Radio discussions, Biology, Education, Fun science, Physics, Student life
• Tags: Dr Molecule, gravity, Guiness book

Malcolm and I discuss the giant physics experiment starting at 7 minutes and 37 seconds in this clip.

[audio http://www.brookes.ac.uk/lifesci/runions/DrMolecule/20121113 – Science in UK and GSDT giant physics experiment.mp3]

At 11:30 this morning, more than 2,300 schoolgirls between the ages of 10-15 attempted to set a new world record. They set out to measure the force of gravity… The good thing about this attempt at classical physics experiments was that it was going on simultaneousley in 26 different academy schools of the Girls’ Day School Trust in the UK. If successful, the girls will have set the record for the largest (most participants), multi-location physics lesson/experiment ever conducted.

A couple of things that I would like to address:

i) How does one measure the force of gravity?

ii) Why is it significant that the Girls’ Day School Trust is carrying out this experiment?

(I’ll finish this blogpost later but wanted to get the clip up so that the GDST students could listen if they want)