# Earth is missing weight?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2000, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955 "2000-03-19T20:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dullwit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@dullwit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dullwit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/1 "2000-03-20T06:35:00Z")
Cecil, and SD readers, I am told the mass of the earth, is reliably estimated at 6 sextillion, 588 quintillion tons (per SD of course). Now I am told that the earth weighs some trillion tons less than it should (if it was in minute separate pieces, and that the parts have more mass separately than together? What is going on? Is the sum of the Earth’s parts is really greater than the whole? Is it gravity because I thought gravity had mass itself? ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2000, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/2 "2000-03-19T20:09:00Z")
\*\*Moderator’s note: In the recent upgrade of our software, some threads were mangled. This is one of them. The topic was not started by _RM Mentock_, as would appear from a casual glance. In fact, the first post was by _dullwit_ on 3/20 at 12:35 AM Central time. That is the Original Post here. After that, feel free to play at home reconstructing this thread. We at the Straight Dope apologize for any confusion that may have resulted; we rather thought that the mangled post order was a pretty neat part of the surrealism of the thread. Carry on, and enjoy the thread. -manhattan\*\* In my edition of that book, they explain all that. * * * rocks ---
**Author:** ![dullwit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@dullwit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dullwit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/3 "2000-03-20T00:07:00Z")
[sub]Originally posted by RM Mentock:[/sub] > [@](#): > > \*\*In my edition of that book, they explain all that. > > \*\* And that explanation is what??? And the name of that book and edition is what??? Giving a book name reference or explanation would help. Book or article name and edition, author, pages, publisher, city, year. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/4 "2000-03-20T02:34:00Z")
Well first of all, weight and mass are not the same thing. Weight (in layman’s terms, which is the only way I know them) is the pull of gravity on mass. That much I remember from HS physics. As for your question, I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it. BTW, where did you hear this? * * * _God is my co-pilot. Blame Him._ ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/5 "2000-03-20T02:37:00Z")
Yeah, the earth only weighs about five pounds. I turned a bathroom scale upside down–therefore, the entire earth was resting on the scale. It showed about five pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/6 "2000-03-20T03:33:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Mjollnir: > \*\*Yeah, the earth only weighs about five pounds. > > I turned a bathroom scale upside down–therefore, the entire earth was resting on the scale. > > It showed about five pounds.\*\* Wow, that’s light enough to be carried by a swallow! An African swallow, of course. Well, maybe two European swallows. On a line. ## Maybe a bit of creeper, held under the dorsal guiding feathers. ## There are no dangerous weapons, Only dangerous men. Joe Cool ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/7 "2000-03-20T05:38:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by dullwit: > **Giving a book name reference or explanation would help.** Certainly wouldn’t hurt. Where did you hear it? * * * rocks ---
**Author:** ![Steve-o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Steve-o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve-o)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/8 "2000-03-20T06:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Mjollnir: > \*\*Yeah, the earth only weighs about five pounds. > > I turned a bathroom scale upside down–therefore, the entire earth was resting on the scale. > > It showed about five pounds.\*\* Five pounds sounded on the light side to me, so I also tried this to verify the weight. My only problem was that when my scale was upside down on the ground, I could not read it. How did you do this? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/9 "2000-03-20T14:05:00Z")
Maybe it was a talking scale? * * * “I must leave this planet, if only for an hour.” – Antoine de St. Exupéry Are you a turtle? ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/10 "2000-03-20T15:11:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Steve-o: > \*\*Five pounds sounded on the light side to me, so I also tried this to verify the weight. My only problem was that when my scale was upside down on the ground, I could not read it. How did you do this? Maybe used a second scale. * * * rocks ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/11 "2000-03-21T06:58:00Z")
Naah - I’ll bet he just moved the earth aside for a second and took a look. ---
**Author:** ![Steve-o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Steve-o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve-o)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/12 "2000-03-20T20:48:00Z")
All very good ideas. Being the cheapest idea (I only have one scale, and it has never held a conversation with me), I tried to shift the Earth to the side for a sec to take a peak, but after doing it several times, I started to doubt the results. After all, I was touching what was being weighed. I think the average weight was around 3.67238551 pounds, but how much was I affecting the results? The talking scale thing would be ideal, but since I don’t already own one, it would also be expensive. The two scale set-up is more complicated, but in my price range. My only problem with this set-up is: how can I be sure there are no polarity issues touching the two scales together? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/13 "2000-03-20T20:59:00Z")
Do you have a glass table handy? You could set the table upside down on the scale, then carefully balance the Earth on the table legs. Repeat the measurement without the Earth, subtract the two and you’re done. 🙂 * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ ---
**Author:** ![Steve-o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Steve-o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve-o)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/14 "2000-03-20T21:07:00Z")
HEY, HEY!!! You’ve got it ZenBeam! Thanks. I’ll post my results when I’m done so everyone can see if they agree with Mjollnir’s results. ---
**Author:** ![dullwit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@dullwit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dullwit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/15 "2000-03-21T01:39:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by RM Mentock: > \*\* Certainly wouldn’t hurt. Where did you hear it? > > \*\* I heard it on the radio originally. I found the article in Scientific American. [http://www.scientificamerican.com/2000/0200issue/0200scicit2.html](http://www.scientificamerican.com/2000/0200issue/0200scicit2.html) SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN February 2000 THE NONNEGLIGIBLE LIGHTNESS OF GRAVITY Physicists verify that even gravity itself has weight Which states "Planet Earth is about three trillion tons lighter than the sum of its parts. " So much for web search engines … I’ll Check SA first. Thanks… Three trillion tons still seems a little close to an margin of error. ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/16 "2000-03-21T01:57:00Z")
From the above article: > [@](#): > > Exquisite precision and elimination of sources of error are required. For example, the lab tilts slightly during working hours when cars fill a nearby parking lot. The varying gravitational force from moisture in a nearby hillside and the magnetic field of the solar wind also have measurable effects. You know, there are times when I think folks are carrying this precision thing just a little too far. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dullwit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@dullwit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dullwit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/17 "2000-03-21T04:23:00Z")
Absolutely, there is a bit of the suspect in the superaccurate measurement. It’s the opposite of the “Mt. Everest is 29000 feet” problem, where the story goes that someone fudged the value because 29,000 looked like an estimate. ---
**Author:** ![TNTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@TNTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TNTruth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2000, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/18 "2000-03-22T06:58:00Z")
WillGolf & Dullwit, Amen. This measurement requires a precision of one part in 10 billion. The posts above are saying the Earth doesn’t weigh 6.588 sextillion tons, it weighs 6.587999997 sextillion tons. Forgive me if I’m still skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@Carl\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Berry)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/19 "2000-03-21T20:26:00Z")
## Johnny LA You bet your sweet ass I am! Carl ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955/20 "2000-03-21T22:39:00Z")
What they are talking about is how much gravitational binding energy contributes to the Earth mass. This is independent of how well the mass of the Earth is known. If you eat a cookie which weighs 1/2 ounce, you know you will weigh 1/2 ounce more after eating the cookie, even if you only know your starting weight to the nearest pound. * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-is-missing-weight/8955.md?page=2)