Question
Does the gravitational force of 9.8m/s^2 change depending on your elevation?
Answers
drwls
Yes. It is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth.
At the top of Mt. Everest (h = 8.84 km), weight and "g" would be reduced by a factor of approximately
[R/(R+h)]^2 = [6371/6379.84]^2 = 0.9972
which is 0.28% less than at sea level.
(R = 6371 km is the radius of the Earth)
There are additional corrections due to the presence of the mountain itself. Stricly speaking, the formula I used applies only if one is located a distance h above a perfect sphere with mass distributed as a function of r only.
At the top of Mt. Everest (h = 8.84 km), weight and "g" would be reduced by a factor of approximately
[R/(R+h)]^2 = [6371/6379.84]^2 = 0.9972
which is 0.28% less than at sea level.
(R = 6371 km is the radius of the Earth)
There are additional corrections due to the presence of the mountain itself. Stricly speaking, the formula I used applies only if one is located a distance h above a perfect sphere with mass distributed as a function of r only.