Conceptually I understand that mass is a measure of the amount of stuff present in an object, while weight is a measure of the force of gravity applied to that object. An object of a given mass will have a bigger weight on Earth than on the moon because Earth’s gravity is stronger. But… mass is determined by weighing an object on a scale. And there is a simple mathematical conversion between grams (mass) and pounds (weight), implying that they’re just different units for the same concept. So what gives? (Also this is a question that applies to so many fields, I had no idea which flair to apply.)
In: 53
You know how it’s much easier to lift people when they’re in swimming pools? Why is that? It’s not like parts of their bodies are missing when they get in the water. The person’s body has a fixed mass (ie they didn’t lose anything when they got in the pool), but their weight has been offset by the weight of the water they’ve displaced. If they were to stand on a submerged scale it would show truly profound weight loss… until they got out and dried off. Yet, the amount of force it would take you to accelerate them would not decrease.
You’ve doubtlessly seen people on the ISS experiencing weightlessness, and you’d surely find it preposterous if the force of a sneeze accelerated them to lightspeed, so clearly they still resist acceleration (which is all that mass is), so what gives? How could someone lose their weight but not their mass if the two are the same thing?
What you think is a simple conversion is not so simple. It depends on a lot of factors.
Latest Answers