If everything's weight is relative to the earth's gravity, does the earth have weight? What is it relative to

Question

Of course the earth has mass but, does it have weight?

Answer 1

Nothing in space has weight. Weight only refers to things on a mass, or in its gratational pull.

But if you were to weight all the crust and mass earth is made up of, from a earth stand point then its probably..........very heavy. Maybe one of those big numbers posted by other people.

Techniclly the earth has to be relative to another mass to have weight, and since all masses have different gravitational pull, you can say earth's weight depends on the mass its near.

But relative to the universe it has no weight.

Answer 2

The change among mass and weight is that weight is found by way of how a lot anything is pulled by way of gravity. If we're evaluating 2 one of a kind matters to one another on Earth, they're pulled the identical by way of gravity and so the only with extra mass weighs extra. But in house, in which the pull of gravity may be very small, anything will have close to no weight. It nonetheless has subject in it, despite the fact that, so it nonetheless has mass.

Answer 3

It would be more proper to ask, "What is the mass of planet Earth?" The quick answer to that is: approximately 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6E+24) kilograms.

The interesting sub-question is, "How did anyone figure that out?" It's not like the planet steps onto the scale each morning before it takes a shower. The measurement of the planet's weight is derived from the gravitational attraction that the Earth has for objects near it.

It turns out that any two masses have a gravitational attraction for one another. If you put two bowling balls near each other, they will attract one another gravitationally. The attraction is extremely slight, but if your instruments are sensitive enough you can measure the gravitational attraction that two bowling balls have on one another. From that measurement, you could determine the mass of the two objects. The same is true for two golf balls, but the attraction is even slighter because the amount of gravitational force depends on mass of the objects.

Newton showed that, for spherical objects, you can make the simplifying assumption that all of the object's mass is concentrated at the center of the sphere. The following equation expresses the gravitational attraction that two spherical objects have on one another:
F = G * M1 * M2 / R2

* R is the distance separating the two objects.
* G is a constant that is 6.67259x10-11m3/s2 kg.
* M1 and M2 are the two masses that are attracting each other.
* F is the force of attraction between them.

Assume that Earth is one of the masses (M1) and a 1-kg sphere is the other (M2). The force between them is 9.8 kg*m/s2 -- we can calculate this force by dropping the 1-kg sphere and measuring the acceleration that the Earth's gravitational field applies to it (9.8 m/s2).

The radius of the Earth is 6,400,000 meters (6,999,125 yards). If you plug all of these values in and solve for M1, you find that the mass of the Earth is 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms (6E+24 kilograms / 1.3E+25 pounds).

It is "more proper" to ask about mass rather than weight because weight is a force that requires a gravitational field to determine. You can take a bowling ball and weigh it on the Earth and on the moon. The weight on the moon will be one-sixth that on the Earth, but the amount of mass is the same in both places. To weigh the Earth, we would need to know in which object's gravitational field we want to calculate the weight. The mass of the Earth, on the other hand, is a constant.

Answer 4

Well I would assume so. Having had to dig a trench and move the dirt around quite a bit, it sure had a lot of weight *grin*.

Okay seriously, gravitational pull does have to do with weight, but in earth standard pounds, it is possible to roughly calculate the weight of the earth by calculating the volume of the sphere that represents our planet and the rough composition of the earth's crust. (This assumes that the magma interior of the planet has roughly the same elements in the same proportions by the way...)

Formula for a sphere's volume is V = (4 Pi/3)r3 = (Pi/6)d3
* the average weight of the earth per meter....

So... lets calculate it..... nah.... too much work.

According to NASA the weight of the earth is Mass 5.9736 times 10^24 kg or 5.97 million * billion * billion kilograms

See the URL below.

Answer 5

All atoms (mass) are pulled toward all other atoms (mass) at the same rate with an inverse proportion to the distance that separates them.

The earth is made up of trillions of atoms that pull on everything. If something comes near the earth (people are very close) you are pulled toward its center. The Earth is similarly pulled to the sun, which is pulled to the center of our galaxy, which is pulled toward the center of the universe. "Weight is the force the ground has to apply on an object to keep it from moving to the center of the Earth.

To answer your question specifically, the Earth could weigh something if measured relative to our solar system/galaxy/universe, but the Earth doesn't really weigh anything on Earth.

Answer 6

Weight is just a product of mass times gravity, and to have it you must be on a surface. Earth is in free fall, it has no weight.

Answer 7

The force of gravity performs work, so an energy source is required. In order to perform work there must be an expenditure of energy. Our planet, as our sun, has as its origin of energy the heat energy contained within each mass. If our planet had no heat energy within, then it would have no gravitational field. The equation for this energy is c2 = E/m. If either the mass or energy values change, the c2 value also changes. You might look at http://360.yahoo.com/noddarc

Answer 8

Sure, it has weight relative to you.

Let's say you're 50 kg and your radius is 1ft. Place a scale on your chest and weigh the Earth. It would weigh 2.15*10^17N, compared to your weight on it of 490 N.

You'd be squashed flat, but it's all in the name of science.

Answer 9

No it does not have weight.It has mass, it does not have weight.Well, maybe, but I'd guess not.Since we're so small the Earth keeps us touching it, and that is what creates weight.Well, I guess it does have weight because the Sun is still tugging on it.So, I guess yes.

Answer 10

You're just as much as part of the earth mass wise as the rocks beneath you.