What is weight?

What is weight?

• A. The mass of an object
• B. The force due to gravity on a mass
• C. The resistance to motion
• D. The amount of matter in an object

Answer: (B)

Weight is the force gravity exerts on a mass. It’s calculated as W = m × g, where m is mass and g is local gravitational acceleration (about 9.81 m/s^2 on Earth). So a 100 kg object weighs roughly 980 N on Earth. This shows weight is a force, not the amount of matter. Mass is the amount of matter in an object and stays the same regardless of location, while weight changes with gravity. The resistance to motion describes inertia, which relates to mass but is not weight. The option describing the amount of matter is simply mass.

Weight is the force gravity exerts on a mass. It’s calculated as W = m × g, where m is mass and g is local gravitational acceleration (about 9.81 m/s^2 on Earth). So a 100 kg object weighs roughly 980 N on Earth. This shows weight is a force, not the amount of matter. Mass is the amount of matter in an object and stays the same regardless of location, while weight changes with gravity. The resistance to motion describes inertia, which relates to mass but is not weight. The option describing the amount of matter is simply mass.