Scale Experiments

Work in Progress

According to the University of Illinois:

Kern Gnome Experiment
The precision scale manufacturer Kern conducted a public test of the variation of weight by latitude, showing that weight changed when a ceramic gnome and one of its precision scale were sent to members of the public at different latitudes:

Website: http://gnome-experiment.com/



Scale Not Calibrated
The scale was calibrated in Germany and sent to different areas:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/gnomadic-experiment/4924.article

Long weigh from gnome: The bizarre experiment where a garden ornament travels the world to measure gravity

Procedure
Members of the public were instructed to place the gnome onto the scale and to report their results:



Spring Scale


http://physicstasks.eu/930/spring-scale-on-the-pole-and-on-the-equator

This is a different experiment than weighing a mass in two different areas with scales that have been calibrated for their local areas.

Different areas have different air pressures and therefore different weights to their atmosphere. They took a scale calibrated for an area of higher pressure to an area of lower pressure and are measuring the difference seen on that scale.

Practical calculations for engineers

https://www.pmfias.com/pressure-belts-pressure-systems-equatorial-low-sub-tropical-high-sub-polar-low-polar-high/

and further down:

Scales Affected by Air Pressure
https://www.arlynscales.com/scale-knowledge/factors-can-affect-scales-accuracy/

Barometer
A scale that measures the weight of the atmosphere is called the "barometer".

Air pressure does not affect the scale trivially. See the following illustration and text:

https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/fair-or-foul-how-to-use-a-barometer/



Q. Sure, but are we talking about being at 18,000' versus sea level or at a pole versus the equator?

A. The difference between those two locations isn't necessarily as radical. The point is that farcical promotional stunts are being presented as fact, without control for other variables.

Worldwide Air Pressure Gradient
https://www.pmfias.com/pressure-belts-pressure-systems-equatorial-low-sub-tropical-high-sub-polar-low-polar-high/

World Distribution of Sea Level Pressure

and further down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_High

Different areas have different air pressures and therefore different weights to their atmosphere. They took a scale calibrated for an area of higher pressure to an area of lower pressure and are measuring the difference seen on that scale.

Difference of Wight in Air Pressure
Dr. Fred Dunnebier at the University of Hawaii explains that the difference in weight is related to the buoyancy of an object in relation to its environment.

If the mass of the object is equal to the air it displaced it is neither pushed upwards or downwards, if the mass of the object is less than the air it displaces, it is pushed upwards/lighter and if the mass of the object is more than the air it displaces it is pushed downwards/heavier.

Q. So things will be (slightly) lighter at the poles, if it were only down to atmospheric pressure. But they are heavier. Why?

A. An object is only lighter at the poles if it's an object that is of low density, and lighter than the air it displaces. If the object is of high density, heavier than the air it displaces, the opposite effect will occur. If the object is at equal density to the air it displaces it will be neither lighter or heavier. From the experiments in question, they are often measuring metallic weights on scales.