what is mass?

Answer 1

something that people waste their sunday mornings at

Answer 2

This is actually a very good question. The other answers you got are good. For lower grades, "the amount of material in an object works fine".
If you are below grade 12, don't read any farther!

If you are a senior physics student, the issue is way more interesting. There are actually (although I'll change that later) two types of mass. Gravitational mass is that property of a body that causes it to be attracted to a gravitational field. Inerial mass is that property of a body that causes it to resist being accelerated. These are not necessarily the same thing! That is, the "m" in "mg" is not necessarily the same thing as the "m" in "ma".
Once you grasp that, then you get to the even more interesting observation that Einstein's Theory of General Relativity starts with the assumption that the masses ARE the same thing. And that leads to the first real theory for how gravity works.

Answer 3

Mass is the amount of material in an object. Mass stays the same no matter what force is acting on the object. This makes mass different from weight, which depends on both the amount of mass and the amount of gravity. This means that even though our elephant weighs less on the moon, his mass stays the same.

OR

Mass is the property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter and energy it is equivalent to. Mass is a central concept of classical mechanics and related subjects, and there are several forms of mass within the framework of relativistic kinematics

OR

Mass is how heavy something is without gravity
Another way of describing mass is:
Mass is how much matter an object has

Mass is measured in grams (g) or kilograms (kg)

Answer 4

a concentration of energy.

and no it is not the volume occupied. A balloon could be huge but contain much less mass then a tiny bottle of mercury.

and those of you offering a polite thumbs down to mine and tribbles answer.....

mass is made of what? protons, neutrons, quarks. superstrings... energy.... right?

The usual high school physics answer is of course the amount of matter present. That helps with calculations for newtonian mechanics. However mass is energy and vice versa.

Answer 5

the amount of matter you have regardless of the circumstances. ex: whether or not your are on the moon or earth, you will still have the same mass. mass=volume. volume is the AMOUNT OF SPACE YOU TAKE UP, so if mass=volume, mass is just what i said in capital letters.

Answer 6

A measure of the amount of matter in an object. (Do not confuse mass with weight*.)

Answer 7

Mass is a property of matter and does not change regardless of the gravity of accelerating force on an object.

Answer 8

Rosie O'Donnell?

Answer 9

Its the amount of matter in something.

Answer 10

Something that takes up space

Water
You
Your pen
Anything solid or liquid