A precision measurement of the gravitational constant G has been made using a beam balance. Special attention has been given to determining the calibration, the effect of a possible nonlinearity of the balance and the zero-point variation of the balance. The equipment, the measurements and the analysis are described in detail. The value obtained for G is 6.674252(109)(54) ×10 −11 m 3 kg −1 s −2 . The relative statistical and systematic uncertainties of this result are 16.3×10 −6 and 8.1 ×10 −6 , respectively.

The Newtonian gravitational constant G was determined by means of a novel beam-balance experiment with an accuracy comparable to that of the most precise torsion-balance experiments. The gravitational force of two stainless steel tanks filled with 13 521 kg mercury on 1.1 kg test masses was measured using a commercial mass comparator. A careful analysis of the data and the experimental error yields G=6.674 07(22)x10(-11) m(3) kg(-1) s(-2). This value is in excellent agreement with most values previously obtained with different methods.

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