Weight and mass

T.H.

The Professional Development Service for Teachers is funded by the

Department of Education and Skills under the National Development Plan
 What units are used by this weighing scale?

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 The scale on the left uses newtons. The scale on the right
uses kilograms (in red) and stones (in black). Compare the
readings.

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 Newtons are much smaller than kilograms.
How many newtons are there in a kilogram?

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 It depends what planet you’re on!

On the moon, 1 kg
has a weight of
On earth, 1 kg has a only 1.6 N
weight of 9.8 N

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 On Earth Sean reads 69 kg or 676 N.

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 On the moon, Sean would still have a mass of 69
kg, but his weight would be only 110 N.
So, one way to lose weight is to go to the moon.

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 Is mass the same as weight?

 What’s your opinion?

 Can you think of any differences between

the two quantities?

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 Mass and weight
 The weight of an object is due to the force of
gravity acting on it. It is measured in newtons.
A body’s weight can change depending on
whether it’s on earth, the moon, mars and so
on.

 Mass is measured in kilograms. According to

one definition, it is a measure of the resistance
of a body to motion. Unlike your weight, your
mass won’t change if you move to another
planet.

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 W = mg

 Weight = mass multiplied by the

acceleration due to gravity

 Jane has a mass of 58 kg. Find her

weight on each of the following:

Earth Moon Mars Jupiter Sun

g / m s–2 9.8 1.6 3.71 25.95 274.13

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 Answers

Earth: W  mg  58  9.8  568.4 N

Moon: W  mg  58 1.6  92.8 N
Mars: W  mg  58  3.71  215.18 N
Jupiter: W  mg  58  25.95  1505.1 N
Sun: W  mg  58  274.13  15899.54 N

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 A Final Question

 Is g = 9.8 m s–2 everywhere on earth?

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 Answer
 No. Comparing cities, it is lowest in Mexico
City (9.779 m s–2) and highest in Oslo
(Norway) and Helsinki (Finland) (9.819 m s–2).

 Standard gravity, or standard acceleration

due to free fall, usually denoted by g0 or gn, is
the nominal acceleration of body in a vacuum
near the surface of the earth. It is defined to
be precisely 9.80665 m s–2.

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