A single cylindrical attracting mass in the time-of-swing method to measure the gravitational constant G

A new configuration with only one cylindrical attracting mass for the deter mination of Newtonian gravitational constant G is proposed. The uncertainty in G introduced by determining the separation between the attracting masse s in usual configurations can be avoided naturally, due to only one cylinde r being used. Furthermore, an optimum ratio of the separation between the t est masses to the length of the attracting mass can greatly reduce the unce rtainty in determining G due to the uncertainty of measuring the separation between the test masses.