Is Gravity the Same Everywhere on Earth?

Do you weigh the same everywhere on Earth? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explain Earth’s Geoid and how our planet’s spin affects its shape and gravity.

Why doesn’t centrifugal force make us weigh less at the equator? What shape is the Earth? Discover how Earth’s shape affects its pull on us, what a day is like on Venus, and how you could make a flat Earth.

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
00:29 - Earth’s Geoid
02:33 - Neil’s Misunderstanding
03:40 - Why You Weigh the Same Everywhere on Earth
5:49 - If Earth Spins Faster
7:52 - Flattening & Spin on Other Planets

[StarTalk]

The mark of a good scientist is admitting when the data shows you're wrong...

[Eisenheim]

Chuck has grown so much over the years. I've watched him go from not understanding most of the time to now finishing Neil's sentences. If that's not growth, I don't know what is.

[eliasfajardo]

It's so funny and cool when Neil explains it in such an intuitive way that Chuck understands and gives his own interpretation on terms that he knows

[djstrb]

Flat earthers will randomly cut this video and say NGT is a flat earther now! Guaranteed 😂😂

[Leeman]

Anyone else feel like Chuck has gotten way smarter over the years? He's just nonchalantly answering all of Neil's questions correctly. It's like that movie Lawnmower Man and Neil is Pierce Brosnan. IT DOES NOT END WELL NEIL.

[jul]

When the Earth is flattened, you can't have hemispheres; you have Side A and Side B.

[revvrie]

I love the bounce off humor between you two. much love

[bdwilson]

That’s the beauty of science. You can be wrong, and it’s okay. It’s flexible.

[jamiboothe]

My favorite saying is, If I can not prove myself wrong, "I will find someone else who can", and hope they respect my idea enough, to prove it wrong.

[Ch-uimw]

Science evolves. The scientific process demands that one continue to study, observe, analyze, and adjust the determinations of a subject. It does not mean you were wrong; it means you're smart enough to keep studying!!

[iTuber]

Something tells me Chuck is going to pull a Saul Goodman and one day drop the news to Dr Tyson that he has been taking night classes and just completed his PhD in physics lol

[reachandler]

I didn't know Venus' rotation was so slow that a day was longer than a year! Learn something new everyday 🤗

[Stuie]

As a professional geodesist whos career revolves around this stuff - there are a 1000 fascinating things I could tell you. But I can't get past the fact that nobody told Neil he was pronouncing geoid (jee-oid) wrong the whole time. Its like arachnoid, asteroid, avoid. A geOde is a hollow rock with sparkly bits inside...

[nicklindberg]

It's heavier around you the morning after a long night out

[johnkangos]

the fact that the effects from the difference in size of the sphere beneath your feet and the centrifugal force actually cancel out is definitely the craziest part of this whole thing

[clhagy]

All I know is the pear shape I now have having entered my 50s I’m going to chalk up to solidarity with the earth…..

[spirko]

The Geoid is a surface of consistent gravitational potential, not constant gravitational acceleration. The gravitational acceleration vector is consistently perpendicular to the geoid (down is perpendicular to the ground), but it doesn't have consistent value.

You don't weigh the same everywhere on Earth.

[ELEVATE-PERPETUALLY]

i absolutely love the intro on this one!!!! finally some genuine energy

[HighiamDave]

During the flat earth round earth debacle, this is exactly what I said based on basic common sense. We can’t be perfectly round, I’ve always said it’s probably shaped like a tangerine not a peach 😅

[JustSomeCanuck]

Wait a second - I was told in physics classes (high school and university) that the common value of the acceleration due to Earth's gravity (9.80665 m/s²) is an average value over the entire surface of the planet, because there are local variations due to the exact structure and mass distribution of the Earth. How does that come into play?