Variable-mass system events. The following derivation is for a body that is gaining mass (accretion). A body of time-varying mass "m" moves at a velocity v at an initial time "t". In the same instant, a particle of mass dm moves with velocity u. The initial momentum can be written as Now at a time "t" + d"t", let both the main body and the particle accrete into a body of velocity v + dv. Thus the new momentum of the system can be written as Since d"m"dv is the product of two small values, it can be ignored, meaning during d"t"
Earth mass value) in the Schiehallion experiment in the 1770s, and within 1% of the modern value in the Cavendish experiment of 1798. The mass of Earth is estimated to be: which can be expressed in terms of solar mass as: The ratio of Earth mass to lunar mass has been measured to great accuracy. The current best estimate is: The "G" product for the Earth is called the geocentric gravitational constant and equals It is determined using laser ranging data from Earth-orbiting satellites, such as LAGEOS-1. The "G" product can also be calculated by observing the motion of the Moon or