Question

Amy has a friend who is working at the South Pole station in Antartica. Assume that she has a mass of 85 kg and that she weighs herself at the South Pole and later, on a visit to Quito, Ecuador (on the equator), she weighs herself again. Assuming that the earth is spherical, with a radius of 6378 km, which of the following statements would be true?

A) The scale reading at the South Pole is 5.8 N greater than it is at Quito

B) The scale reading at the South Pole is 2.9 N greater than it is at Quito

C) The scale reading at Quito is 5.8 N greater than it is at the South Pole

D) The scale readings are the same at both locations

E) The scale reading at Quito is 2.9 N greater than it is at the South Pole

Answer 1

In combination, the equatorial bulge and the effects of the surface centrifugal force due to rotation mean that sea-level gravity increases from about 9.780 m/s2 at the Equator to about 9.832 m/s2 at the poles, so an object will weigh approximately 0.5% more at the poles than at the Equator.

if we assumed the earth is spherical then the value of g must be same at both the locations (Equator and poles) then I believe scale reading are the same at the both location. ..Option (D).

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