2006-10-24 06:53:13 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
People don't care about body weight, they care about body mass. I would be just as fat on the moon as on earth. Pounds came into use before people knew or cared about the difference. It was convenient and meaningful to weigh humans the same way they weigh beef. The pound is primarily a unit of mass, though it is also used as a unit of force. See the reference for all the messy details.
I doubt you will find anyone on the planet who has a more intuitive or practiced feel for Newtons than they do for pounds or kilograms.
2006-10-24 07:18:13 · answer #1 · answered by Frank N 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Convention. We should use N to quantify our body weight. The acceleration of gravity remains fairly constant at the surface of the earth, so to quantify body weight in kg isn't too unreasonable.
btw...lbs is the English unit of measure for force. The slug is the English unit of measure for mass
2006-10-24 13:59:21 · answer #2 · answered by Troy J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mass is generally consistent no matter where you are, but weight will change depending on planetary (or local) acceleration. Consider when you are weightless in Space that you still have the same mass (except at relativistic speeds).
2006-10-24 14:37:17 · answer #3 · answered by keraphem 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Newtons are fattening especially when there made with figs.
2006-10-24 14:09:38 · answer #4 · answered by confused 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋