Reduction of Effective “Spring Constants” Using Gravitational Fields

We discuss the feasibility of operating a torsion balance in the presence-of fixed masses positioned so that a decrease in gravitational potential energy experienced by the balance as it rotates nearly cancels the positive energy associated with its twisting support fiber. Under these conditions the net effective torsion constant may in principle be made arbitrarily small. We dicuss an example of reduction by a factor of 100.