Calculating weight and mass

Ms. Campbell
• “Mass” is a measure of how much matter an object has.
• “Weight” is a measure of the amount of force exerted on a body by
gravity.
• Weight changes based on location in direct correlation to the measure of
gravitational force at the location. Mass does not change with location.
Weight and mass on different location
 Observe the
scientific units used
for each!!

• The gravity on Earth is 9.8 m/s2 or 9.8 N/kg

• We can also round it up to 10 N/kg
 Calculating weight
A ball has a mass of 15kg. Find its weight in newtons, using g= 10 N/kg
 W= m x g
• W= 15 kg x 10 N/kg
• W= 150 N
 Calculating mass
• Using W = m x g, we can find the mass
• To do so we must make the mass, m, the subject by dividing each side by
the gravity, g.
• Remember W= m x g
*Units will also
• W(N) = m (kg) x g (N/kg) cancel out each
other
g (N/kg) g (N/kg)
• Therefore m = W
g
 Calculating mass
• A bag of groceries has a weight of 44N. Find the mass, using g= 10 N/kg
• W=mxg
 m= W
g
• m= 44N
10 N/kg
• m=4.4 kg
• The mass of a man is 68,000 g. Find the weight
• Since W (N) = m(kg) x g (N/kg)……. Therefore the mass must be converted
to kg for the units to be cancelled out

m = 68000g
*Cross multiply
1kg = 1000g

m= 68000g x 1kg
1000g
m=68 kg
W= m x g
W= 68 kg x 10N/kg
W= 680 N