Allegedly "debunking" the Cavendish Experiment

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter DarthOblivious
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Flat earth
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the validity of the Cavendish experiment and a claim made by a flatearther that it has been debunked. Participants explore the credibility of the arguments presented against the experiment and the nature of the claims made by non-scientists.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses skepticism about the claims made by a flatearther, noting their modest scientific knowledge and seeking assistance in scrutinizing the arguments.
  • Another participant dismisses the analysis of such claims as a waste of time, labeling them as generally nonsensical.
  • A participant asserts that the Cavendish experiment has not been debunked and can still be replicated, suggesting that the criticisms are distractions created by non-scientists.
  • Concerns are raised about the validity of comparing values with different dimensions, questioning the logic behind equating gravitational constants with unrelated measurements.
  • A final participant advises against engaging with individuals who hold flat Earth beliefs, suggesting that they are unlikely to accept evidence and will view it as part of a conspiracy.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally disagree on the validity of the claims made against the Cavendish experiment, with some defending its integrity while others dismiss the criticisms as nonsensical. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the credibility of the arguments presented by the flatearther.

Contextual Notes

Participants express varying levels of expertise and skepticism, with some relying on personal knowledge and others questioning the foundational logic of the arguments against the experiment. The discussion highlights the challenges of engaging with non-scientific claims.

DarthOblivious
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
TL;DR
Someone showed me this and I wanted to know everything that's wrong about it.
A flatearther sent this to me a few months ago. Dude actually thought this... "project" would convince me. I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories at all, but my knowledge of science is very, very modest, so I can't personally scrutinize it properly. Would anyone be kind enough to help?

EDIT: Forgot the link, lol:
(link removed by mentor: non-accredited journal)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
It's a waste of time analysing such things as they are generally nonsense.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: russ_watters and DarthOblivious
Welcome to PF.

The Cavendish experiment has NOT been debunked, and can be repeated today.

That is a list of possible distractions that, then and now, play no part in the experiment. The list was constructed by a non-scientist, acting as devil's advocate, with the aim of muddying the water of science, with pseudo-science.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: DarthOblivious and PeroK
Any work that seriously compares two values with different dimensions (Newton's ##G## and whatever nonsense Spear's ##Ge## is supposed to be) and declares them "very close" can safely be dismissed as the work of a clueless poser. Is 1m "very close to" 1kg? Is 1km "very close to" 1kg? What does it even mean to compare a distance to a weight? If it didn't occur to anybody involved in the publication of that paper to ask the equivalent question about ##G## and ##Ge##, nobody involved has even the most basic grasp of physics.
 
  • Informative
Likes   Reactions: DarthOblivious
Don't waste your time arguing with a flatearth person. They will simply not trust your evidence and conclude its all a conspiracy theory to hide the flatness of the Earth.

Closing thread, thanks to everyone who contributed here.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: DarthOblivious and Drakkith

Similar threads

  • · Replies 65 ·
3
Replies
65
Views
11K