Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m42fx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T02:35:47.223Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1867. On the Internal Distribution of Matter which shall produce a given Potential at the surface of a Gravitating Mass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2010

Get access

Summary

It is known that if either the potential of the attraction of a mass attracting according to the law of the inverse square of the distance, or the normal component of the attraction, be given all over the surface of the mass, or any surface enclosing it (which latter case may be included in the former by regarding the internal density as null between the assumed enclosing surface and the actual surface), the potential and consequently the attraction at all points external to the surface and at the surface itself is determinate. This proposition leads to results of particular interest when applied to the Earth, as I showed in two papers published in 1849, where among other things I proved that if the surface be assumed to be, in accordance with observation, of the form of an ellipsoid of revolution, Clairaut's Theorem follows independently of the adoption of the hypothesis of original fluidity, or even of that of an internal arrangement in nearly spherical strata of equal density.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009
First published in: 1904

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×