The torsion balance clearly measures displacement.
But the interpretation of what physically produces that displacement is still layered with assumptions about environmental coupling, electrostatic effects, thermal gradients, air interaction, fibre behaviour, vibration isolation, etc.
My question is,
How much of Cavendish is direct observation of mass attracting mass, and how much is interpretation layered onto observed motion?
Not denying the experiment works.
Questioning what exactly the experiment uniquely proves.
u/AltScientist84 — 8 days ago