We propose the application of a new technique, the X pendulum, to determine the Newtonian gravitational constant G. We evaluate the likely experimental errors for configurations realizable with existing technologies and show that improvement of the accuracy by an order of magnitude or more is possible.
In 2006, a final result of a measurement of the gravi- tational constant
G
performed by researchers at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, was published. A value of
G
=6.674252(122)×10
−11
m
3
kg
−1
s
−2
was obtained after an experimental effort that lasted over one decade. Here, we briefly summarize the measurement and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.
Determination of the gravitational constant G by means of a beam balance
