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How are weight and mass are different?

Updated: 8/17/2019
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14y ago

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Mass and weight are sometimes used interchangeably. However, if used correctly, they are very different.

The difference lies in the fact that Weight is measured in a Gravity "Well" and Mass is independent of Gravity.

It is the amount of matter something contains (a number that usually remains constant under normal physical conditions), measured in grams, kilograms, etc.

Weight is the amount of gravity pulling on something, proportional to its mass and the distance between it and something else, like a planet.

An object's weight equals its mass multiplied by a gravitational force (on Earth, the force's about 9.8 Nkg-1 or Newtons per kilogram). So a 10kg object on Earth's surface would weigh about 98 Newtons.

For example, an object can have the same mass on Earth and on the moon, but it would weigh 6 times more on Earth than it would on the moon, because Earth contains 6 times more mass than the moon. Mass is the measurement of how much matter there is within a certain amount of space, and is also the body's resistance to being accelerated by a force. Weight is the measurement of how much the pull of gravity is on a specific object. Mass and weight are sometimes confused with being alike, but they are separate terms. Mass is the quantity of matter within a sample. Weight is the force of gravity acting on a mass.
Mass is what gives an object its inertia - resistance to acceleration. Weight is the force with which an object is attracted by gravity. Weight is proportional to mass, but it also depends on the gravity.

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6y ago
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14y ago

Weight is what you have for a certain force of gravity acting on a certain amount of mass. Mass is what you have regardless of which gravity it is. While on earth it doesn't really matter, but if you'd bring an object into space it would be entirely different. Your mass would be the same whether on the Moon or on the earth, but your weight would be seriously different.

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14y ago

Mass is a measure of the amount of matter irrespective of gravity. For example, your mass doesn't change if you're on Earth or the moon. Your weight, however, would decrease on the moon because of lower gravitational pull.

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11y ago

Mass is what gives an object its inertia - resistance to acceleration. Weight is the force with which an object is attracted by gravity. Weight is proportional to mass, but it also depends on the gravity.

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11y ago

Weight W= mass m times acceleration g; W= mg.

Weight is a force and mass is matter.

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Q: How are weight and mass are different?
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Related questions

How is mass and weight are different?

Mass= # of particles/ matter weight= the force of gravity Examples: your mass is the same on every planet, Your weight is different on different planets


Which will be different on the moon mass or weight?

The weight will be different.


How is measurment of weight different from measurement of mass?

Mass is the mass, weight is mass with gravity acting upon it


Why is your weight on earth different from out mass on the moon?

You can't compare WEIGHT with MASS - those two are used to measure quite different things. It doesn't make sense to say that they are the same, or that they are different. You can only compare mass with mass, or weight with weight.


Is The weight of a substance is defined as its mass divided by its volume.?

weight is different in different gavities but mass is not, volume is not involved


Why is weight different from mass?

Well mass is different from weight in one major way. Mass is how easily something can lift more than weight being how heavy an object is. For example a balloon has mass, but a person carries weight.


Is weight stronger mass?

Weight and mass are fundamentally different things, and they are measured in different units (newton, versus kilograms). Weight is caused by mass, but it also depends on gravity. The formula is: weight = gravity x mass Mass also causes inertia.


When are mass and weight the same?

Mass and weight are different notions in a correct physics terminology.


How is gravity different from mass and weight?

Gravity is the cause of the forces that give weight to mass.


What causes the weight of an object?

it is all to do with the gravity compaired to the mass. mass is different to weight.


What is different about weight and mass measurement?

The difference between weight, OK say that your on the moon your weight is the same that it was on earth but your mass will be totally different then it was on earth.


What are three diffent things between mass and weight?

1). Mass doesn't depend on what else is nearby, but weight does. 2). Mass doesn't change when it goes to different planets, but weight does. 3). Mass and weight are measured in different units and have different physical dimensions. 4). Weight is widely understood by nearly everybody, but mass isn't.