Question

State five differences between mass and weight.

Answer 1

Hint: Mass and weight both quantities are the same until a gravitation force involves. Mass is the amount of matter present in the body while weight is the force with which another body pulls the mass.

Complete step-by-step solution:

Mass	Weight
1. Mass is the amount of matter present in the object or body.	1. The force with which the earth attracts the object is called the weight of an object.
2. Mass doesn’t have a particular notation and it is denoted by m.	2. The force F of an object of mass m on the surface of the earth can we write by using the equation $F=mg$. Therefore, weight, $W=F=mg$
3. As the value of g is not the same everywhere, its value is the same everywhere.	3. As the value of g is not the same everywhere, Its value is not the same everywhere.
4. Its value does not change even when we go to another planet. Mass does not vary by the planet to planet.	4. Its value changes even when we go to another planet i.e. weight does vary by the planet to planet.
5. Mass is a scalar quantity. It does not have direction. It possesses the only magnitude.	5. Also, the weight, being a force, is a vector quantity i.e. it has both direction and magnitude and its direction is towards the center of the earth.
6. S.I. unit is the kilogram	6. Its SI unit is Newton. One newton can we define as ${\displaystyle \frac{kgm}{s^2}}$.

Note: According to Newton’s first law, mass is the measure of the inertia of an object. The higher the mass, the higher is the inertia. Colloquially we use weight for both mass and weight and measure the weight in kilograms which is the unit of mass.