Question

When we move towards the north pole from the equator what will happen to our weight?

• A. become zero.
• B. decrease.
• C. increase.
• D. stay same.

Answer 1

The correct option is C

increase.

The effective acceleration of gravity at the poles is 980.665 $cm/s^2$ while at the equator it is 3.39 $cm/s^2$ less due to the presence of centrifugal force due to rotation of the earth and because of the oblate spheroid shape of the earth, a person standing at the equator is further away from the center of the earth than a person standing at the pole, If you weighed 100 pounds at the north pole on a spring scale, at the equator you would weigh 99.65 pounds, or 5.5 ounces less. Hence, when we move towards the north poles our weight will effectively increase.