Validation of the Inverse Square Law of Gravitation Using the Tower at Erie, Colorado, U.S.A.

Eckhardt et al (1988) point out that gravity measurements on towers provide a straightforward way of testing Newton s inverse square law of gravitation, whose validity in the distance range of 10— 1000m has been repeatedly questioned during the last decade. Eckhardt et al (loc. cit.) and Romaides et al (1989) have interpreted their measurements on the 600m WTVD tower in North Carolina as evidence for non-Newtonian gravitation. This paper describes a similar experiment using a 300m meteorological tower at Erie on the plains of Colorado some 20km east of Boulder. Gravity was measured at eight levels and, in contrast with the results from North Carolina, these measurements are in excellent agreement with values obtained by upward continuation of surface values using Newton s inverse square law.