A very sensitive spring balance was used to determine the weight of an object at the north pole. When the same spring balance was used to measure the weight...

Answer Details

The explanation for this observation is that the acceleration of free fall due to gravity varies with location. At the North Pole, the object experiences a greater acceleration of free fall due to gravity than it does at the Equator. This is because the Earth is not a perfect sphere but rather an oblate spheroid. At the poles, the Earth's rotation axis is perpendicular to the ground, while at the equator, the Earth's rotation axis is parallel to the ground. This difference in orientation results in a difference in the centripetal force on the object due to the Earth's rotation, which affects the object's weight. Since the spring balance measures the force required to support the object's weight, the weight of the object decreases at the Equator due to the reduced gravitational force.