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This question was submitted by Ms. Geear’s 5th grade class at Benton Elementary School
A: “First, think about the difference between mass and weight. Mass is the amount of matter an object contains and weight is the measurement of the pull of gravity on the object,” explained Sean Baldridge, doctoral candidate in astrophysics at MU. Mass is measured on a balance which compares the amount of matter in one object with the amount of matter in a second object. The mass of an object will not change if the gravitational pull on the object changes, but the weight of the object will. “For instance, if you measure your mass on Earth and then measure your mass on the moon, your mass will remain the same. But if you measure your weight on the Earth and on the moon, your weight will be far less on the moon because of a weaker gravitational force,” Baldridge said.
An important point to keep in mind is that the weight of an object will vary in proportion to the strength of the gravitational pull on the object. All planets have gravity; however, the strength of gravity is directly related to the mass and the diameter of the planet. The weight of a 22-pound object on Earth would be about 3.7 pounds on the moon.
“Gravity is a force that acts upon all objects, including us, every day. We can measure gravitational force by measuring the weight of an object,” Baldridge said. Remember that mass and weight are not the same; the mass of an object will remain the same, but weight will change if the force of gravity changes.
Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by kaily. kaily Wonders, “how much would i weigh on the moon” Thanks for WONDERing with us, kaily!
People first walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969. When Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the surface of the Moon that day, they not only made world history — they lost weight. How is this possible?
Before we can understand weight, we must first understand gravity and mass. Gravity is a natural force that attracts objects to each other.
On Earth, gravity is the constant force pulling us toward Earth and preventing us from flying off into space like a balloon. When you step on a scale, it shows your weight as a number. This number is actually a measurement of the gravitational pull Earth has on you.
Mass is how much “stuff" you are made of. Unlike weight, your mass is the same whether you are on Earth, on Mars, on the moon, sitting in your living room, swimming in the ocean, or floating somewhere in outer space.
Someone who weighs 200 pounds has more mass than someone who weighs 100 pounds. The more mass a person has, the greater the pull of gravity on them. This is why a scale shows a higher number for a larger person.
Small celestial bodies have weaker gravitational pulls than Earth. Larger planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, have stronger gravitational pulls, which means you'd weigh more if you visited those planets.
Since the Moon is smaller than Earth, it has a weaker gravitational pull. In fact, the Moon only has 1/6 the gravity that Earth does. This means you weigh six times less on the Moon than you do on Earth!
When the astronauts landed on the Moon in 1969, they wore space suits and carried heavy packs of equipment. Since gravity is much weaker on the Moon, everything weighed only 1/6 of its Earth-weight, and the astronauts were able to move around the Moon very easily.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Our weight on moon is less than it would be on Earth due to a difference of the strength of gravity on the moon. The moon's gravitation force is determined by the mass and the size of the moon. Since the moon has significantly less mass than the Earth, it will not pull objects toward itself at the strength that Earth will. This means that if you went to the moon you would weigh less, even though your mass stays the same!
Posted on June 15, 2016 at 6:12 pm