Earth mass

Earth mass (M_⊕, where ⊕ is the standard astronomical symbol for planet Earth) is the unit of mass equal to that of Earth. This value includes the atmosphere but excludes the moon. The current best estimate for Earth mass is M_⊕ = 7024597220000000000♠(5.9722±0.0006)×10²⁴ kg Earth mass is a standard unit of mass in astronomy that is used to indicate the masses of other planets, including rocky terrestrial planets and exoplanets.

Value

The mass of Earth is estimated to be:

or:

History of measurement

Modern methods of determining the mass of Earth involve calculating the gravitational coefficient of the Earth and dividing by the Newtonian constant of gravitation

The GM_⊕ product is determined using laser ranging data from Earth-orbiting satellites.

Before the space age (and after 1798), efforts to determine Earth's mass involved measuring G directly as in the Cavendish experiment. Earth's mass could be found by combining two equations; Newton's second law, and Newton's law of universal gravitation.