November 04, 2013
Mass Vs.
Weight
Investigation
What's the difference?
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November 04, 2013
Weight is a measurement of the force on a
object caused by gravity trying to pull
the object down.
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November 04, 2013
Mars has less gravity than Earth. Therefore if
you were on Mars you'd weigh less because the
force of gravity wouldn't be as strong as it is here
on Earth.
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November 04, 2013
Does this mean you would suddenly be thinner on Mars?
No. You would have the same amount of mass as you do
on Earth.
(Mass is the amount of stuff inside an object.)
So, on Mars, your mass would be the same as it is here on Earth.
But you'd weigh less because Mars has less gravity than Earth.
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November 04, 2013
Gravity is an attractive force.
Attractive means that an object's gravity pulls
other objects toward it.
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November 04, 2013
The Earth's gravity naturally pulls us and
everything else toward the center of the
planet, which keeps us from drifting off
into space.
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November 04, 2013
The Earth isn't the only thing that has
gravity. In fact, every single object in the
universe has gravity.
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November 04, 2013
Mass is the amount of "stuff" contained
inside an object. It takes a lot of mass to
make a lot of gravity. The Earth has a lot of
mass so it has a lot of gravity. The moon's
gravity is about 1/6 the amount of the Earth's
gravity because the moon has less mass
than the Earth.
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November 04, 2013
So what does all this have to do with
weight? Well, weight is the force on an
object caused by gravity trying to pull
the object down. A scale measures
how much gravity your mass has. A
person with more mass has more
gravity, and therefore weighs more.
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November 04, 2013
Quick check before we start our investigation
of mass vs. weight:
Mass is
A) the force of gravity on an object
B) the amount of "stuff" an object has in it
C) found only on the moon
D) hard to spell
Weight is
A) a measurement of the force of gravity on an object
B) only found in space
C) the amount of "stuff" an object has in it
D) something you don't discuss in public!
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November 04, 2013
Mass Vs. Weight Investigation
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November 04, 2013
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