Science, It got me thinking.
2006-09-20 08:52:15 · 5 answers · asked by Adrienne 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
ANY form of matter will do. ANY. That's because "weight" is a measurement involving the force of gravity. Mass does not depend on gravity. Thus, anytime the force of gravity on ANY matter changes, so does the weight. But the mass of ANY object will remain the same. (I'm ignoring some of Einstein's laws, as they'll only confuse you).
So you can take ANY matter on earth which has MASS and take it into outer space, away from the earth's gravitational field, and it will become weightless, but still have the same MASS. (I'm ignoring other gravitational fields purposely, as it will only confuse you).
Mass is constant; never changes
Weight depends on the gravitational field of an object. Mass does not.
2006-09-20 09:01:50 · answer #1 · answered by MrZ 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Mass and Weight are two different quantities, but are often confused. Mass is a measure of inertia and is known in science as a scalar quantity. Mass is the same no matter where you are. Weight, on the other hand, is dependant on your mass and the local gravity. For example, an object that weighs 6 pounds on earth would weigh only 1 pound on the moon. But an object that has a mass of 2 kilograms, would still have 2 kilograms of mass on the moon.
2006-09-20 16:04:54 · answer #2 · answered by Bigfoot 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Previous answers are of course right, but I'll add one thing: For practical purposes, they are the same on Earth, since the weight of an object is the mass of an object as measured on Earth (at sea level, I think). So in everyday application, something that has a mass of 10kg will also weigh 10kg.
Actually now that I'm reading this, I'm thinking I may be wrong, but I'll post it and let someone else comment if they want...
2006-09-20 16:09:10 · answer #3 · answered by perk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mass and weight are never the same thing. Weight changes with gravity but mass doesn't. On the moon your weight would be different than on earth. Your mass would be the same.
2006-09-20 15:55:21 · answer #4 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Newton thought about that too, he worked with inertial mass, and gravitational mass. Inertial mass is the mass something has when you push it around, and gravitational mass is obviously the mass of the object when affected by gravity.
Experiments have shown a complete equality between these two types of mass, and accepting Einsteins theory of common relativity, inertial- and gravitational mass is the one and same thing.
2006-09-26 09:39:19 · answer #5 · answered by Jens F 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋