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Home Minds On Newton's Laws Mission NL6 Mass vs. Weight Help Help 5

Mission NL6 Mass vs. Weight

The Question

The force of gravity of objects on the moon is approximately one-sixth of their value on Earth. Joe weighs 600 N on earth. Joe's mass on the moon will be ...

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Formula Fix

The mass of an object is mathematically related to its weight by the equation:
 
Weight = mass • g
 
where g is the acceleration caused by gravity alone. The value of g on Earth is 9.8 m/s/s (approximately 10 m/s/s).

Define Help

Definition of Weight:
The weight of an object refers to the force with which gravity attracts that object to Earth (or to any other object or large body that the object is on or near). The weight of an object varies with its location since it is a quantity dependent upon the gravitational field strength. Being a force, the standard metric unit of weight is the Newton (abbreviated N); another commonly used unit is the pound (British system).

Don't be Fooled

Many beginning students of Physics have the misconception that the mass of an object is different in different gravitational environments. But don't be fooled! The mass of an object is the amount of stuff present in that object. If an object takes its stuff from Earth to the moon (or vice versa), the amount of it's stuff is not going to change. On the other hand the force with which that stuff is attracted to the Earth is different than the force with which the stuff is attracted to the moon. Success on this question in part depends upon your ability to recognize that the mass on the moon is the same as the mass on Earth.

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