Weight is the force exerted on an object due to gravity. It is the gravitational force of attraction that a massive body, like the Earth, exerts on the object. Weight depends on both the mass of the object and the acceleration due to gravity at the object's location, and it is calculated as W=mgW=mgW=mg, where WWW is weight, mmm is mass, and ggg is gravitational acceleration
. Weight is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction, typically directed toward the center of the gravitational source (e.g., toward the center of the Earth)
. Its unit of measurement in the International System of Units (SI) is the newton (N), which is a unit of force. For example, an object with a mass of 1 kilogram has a weight of approximately 9.8 newtons on Earth's surface
. It is important to distinguish weight from mass: mass is an intrinsic property of matter and does not change with location, while weight varies depending on the strength of the gravitational field. For instance, an object weighs less on the Moon than on Earth because the Moon's gravitational acceleration is weaker, even though its mass remains the same
. In everyday language, weight is often used interchangeably with mass, and units like kilograms or pounds are commonly used to express weight, which can cause confusion since these are technically units of mass
. In summary:
- Weight is the gravitational force on an object.
- It depends on mass and gravitational acceleration.
- Weight is measured in newtons (force units).
- Weight varies with location; mass does not.
- Weight is a vector directed toward the gravitational center.
This definition aligns with scientific and engineering standards
