Since the word "gravity" begins with the letter "g", it seems natural to denote the gravitational constant by a big G.
But... As the modern work on gravitational theory began with the work of Galileo Galilei, does it make sense to conjecture that this denotation may have been made, by Charles Vernon Boys, in honor of Galileo?
The word "gravitation" begins with a G in Italian and in Latin. Not only Galileo begins with a G.
The shear modulus ( related to Young's modulus), is also denoted G, but in a first approximation and generally it is not dependent on 'the universal constant of gravity'. Possibly, if to calculate 'the universal constant of gravity' G, with a mechanical wire spring and a heavy weight, such that there will be large deformations of the spring, and partly knowledge of the material, it will be a dependency. However, the mathematical pendulum is, I belive, the way to determine G.
Dear Maria Fernanda,
It is, so interesting, a question, and in general, to imagine how they thought, and made models. Now, many things became universal, and it is difficult to imagine how it could have been if they had chosen something a little bit different. For example, the projections into flat photos in cameras and television screens. And the multitude of Cartesian thinking, which really survived in large and small; books, for example.
The "gravitational constant" G is nothing more than a way of correlating kilograms with meters in order to calculate gravitational effects. G is a "constant", yes, not a variable, but more importantly, it is the "gravitational correlate."
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