Weight

• Weight


  The force pulling an object towards the Earth due to gravitational attraction
• Gravitational force of attraction


  The force that determines your weight
• Your weight can change depending on the gravitational attraction
• Your weight in newtons on different planets

  • Earth: 600 N
  • Mars: 220 N
  • Jupiter: 1500 N
  • Neptune: 840 N
• You don't really get slimmer if you visit Mars; your weight is less but your mass stays the same
• Weight


  The force acting on an object due to gravity, measured in newtons (N)
• Mass


  The amount of matter in an object, measured in kilograms (kg)
• Your mass stays the same on Mars because the number of atoms you have doesn't change
• Calculating weight


  Weight (N) = mass (kg) x gravitational field strength (N/kg)
• The gravitational force acting on a 1 kg object is the gravitational field strength
• Unit of weight


  Newtons (N)
• Unit of mass


  Kilograms (kg)
• The spacecraft Phoenix landed on Mars in 2008
• On Earth, the spacecraft Phoenix weighed 3500 N and had a mass of 350 kg
• Weight depends on the gravitational force of attraction
• The weight can be calculated by multiplying the mass by the gravitational field strength