Mass and weight

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE Hang something from the end of a spring balance and you can measure the downward pull from the Earth.. The pull is called a gravitational force.. The greater the ma

MASS AND WEIGHT

Physics Project

By: Salim DogaN ZENGIN

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE

Hang something from the end of a spring

balance and you can measure the downward pull from the Earth The pull is called a gravitational force.

No one knows what causes gravitational

force But several things are known about it: All masses attract each other The greater the

masses, the stronger the pull The closer the

masses, the stronger the pull

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE

The pull between small masses is far too

weak to measure – less than one millionth

of a Newton between you and the person the next to you for example But the Earth has a such a huge mass that the

gravitational pull is strong enough to hold most things firmly on the ground

WEIGHT

Weight is another name for the gravitational

force from the earth.

As weight is a force, its unit is the Newton.

On the earth, each kilogram of matter weighs

10 newtons.

People often use the word ‘weight’ when they really mean ‘mass’ If something has mass 50 kg

it has 500 N weighs

Go to the Moon Even better, go deep into

space, for away from all planets.

MASS AND WEIGHT

your weight would vary from one place in the Universe

to another Take the case of a person with a mass of 50

kg :

50 kg MASS WEIGHT

deep in space 50kg zero

near surface of the moon 50kg 80 N

near surface of Jupiter 50kg 2700 N

near a black hole 50kg 100 million

MASS AND WEIGHT

Traveling around space is not going to

get rid of the kilograms Weight may vary, but mass stays the same On the Moon for example, the gravitational pull is much

less than on Earth But the amount of

matter in something is just the same And

it is just as difficult to speed up or slow

down