Why would you weigh less on the moon compared to earth?
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answers:
Clive say: Because weight depends on gravity. And gravity is caused by mass. The Moon is smaller than the Earth, so it has less mass, so its gravitational pull is smaller, so you don't get pulled down to the ground so hard and you'll see that if you try to weigh yourself there. What scales actually measure is the pressure you put on them.
Out in space, there's no gravity pulling you in any direction so your weight is nothing. On the International Space Station, where there's effectively no gravity because it's in a free-fall orbit, astronauts need to weigh themselves so the doctors can keep a check on their health, but normal scales don't work because you'd just float off them. The Russians have invented a gadget to do it that astronauts have to bounce up and down on, and it measures resistance to the springs in it. They call it "riding the donkey"!
It's important to make the difference between mass and weight. Your weight is entirely a function of what gravity is pulling on you, but mass never changes - it's a measure of the amount of "stuff" in you. While we're on Earth, it's not important to know the difference because we're in the same gravity all the time and we say we have a weight in kg. It works for everyday life. But really, as a physicist will tell you, kg measures mass, and weight is in newtons. Newtons are a unit of force and that's the point - your weight is the force you press down on the ground with. And you only press down on the ground with a force because gravity pulls you down.
Let's imagine we're both astronauts on the ISS. We both weigh nothing and float around. But if I bump into you, you'd know I still have mass! To be absolutely correct, "the donkey" doesn't measure weight because you don't have any, it measures mass. Boing, boing, boing...
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larry say: my dork
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frank lynn say: Because the moon's gravitational constant (the force holding you down) is one sixth (approximately) that of earth. You weigh less, but your mass stays the same.
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MARK say: You have mass and weight. There is a definition of mass which is basically the force required to move you if stationary or to alter your velocity if moving. Basically, it depends on the amount of you. It is correctly measured with the kilogram (kg) and remains the same wherever in the universe you are.
Weight is determined by the acceleration due to the force of gravity acting on your mass and is correctly measure with the newton (N). On Earth, gravity varies but it is very roughly 10 metres per second squared (m/s^2). Let's say you are Mr average male and you have a mass of 70 kg. Your mass is the same on Earth, on the Moon or in deep space. On Earth your weight is your mass multiplied by the acceleration due to the force of gravity acting on your mass, i.e. 70 x 10 = 700 N.
On the Moon the acceleration due to the force of gravity is about one-sixth of what it is on Earth. Therefore, on the Moon your weight will be less. If your weight on Earth is 700 N, on the Moon it would be ca. 117 N.
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Jeffrey K say: The moon's gravity is less because it has less mass.
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Fred say: The Moon is much smaller than Earth and has a smaller mass than that of Earth. That exact number is .012 th the mass of Earth. So the smaller mass of the Moon does not pull (gravity) as much as that of the larger massed Earth. The Moon's surface gravity .156 that of Earth. 1/6 = 0.1666
Now if you were on Jupiter with a mass of 317.8 times that of Earth you would experience a weight (at cloud tops) of 2.64 times that of your weight on Earth.
However you 'mass' would remain the same regardless of where you went in the Universe.
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say: Ultimately, the moon has less mass. than the Earth. The difference in radius is also a factor.
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Slim shady say: Gravity
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say: bc there's less gravity there
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. say: less gravity
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Clive say: Because weight depends on gravity. And gravity is caused by mass. The Moon is smaller than the Earth, so it has less mass, so its gravitational pull is smaller, so you don't get pulled down to the ground so hard and you'll see that if you try to weigh yourself there. What scales actually measure is the pressure you put on them.
Out in space, there's no gravity pulling you in any direction so your weight is nothing. On the International Space Station, where there's effectively no gravity because it's in a free-fall orbit, astronauts need to weigh themselves so the doctors can keep a check on their health, but normal scales don't work because you'd just float off them. The Russians have invented a gadget to do it that astronauts have to bounce up and down on, and it measures resistance to the springs in it. They call it "riding the donkey"!
It's important to make the difference between mass and weight. Your weight is entirely a function of what gravity is pulling on you, but mass never changes - it's a measure of the amount of "stuff" in you. While we're on Earth, it's not important to know the difference because we're in the same gravity all the time and we say we have a weight in kg. It works for everyday life. But really, as a physicist will tell you, kg measures mass, and weight is in newtons. Newtons are a unit of force and that's the point - your weight is the force you press down on the ground with. And you only press down on the ground with a force because gravity pulls you down.
Let's imagine we're both astronauts on the ISS. We both weigh nothing and float around. But if I bump into you, you'd know I still have mass! To be absolutely correct, "the donkey" doesn't measure weight because you don't have any, it measures mass. Boing, boing, boing...
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poldi2 say: The moon has less mass than the Earth so its gravitational pull is less than the Earth.
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CarolOklaNola say: The Moon has less mass than Earth is why. The acceleration of gravity is lower, 1/6 of Earth's acceleration.
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Bill-M say: the moon is smaller (less Mass) (less gravity).
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Dan say: To make it easier to moonwalk.
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Pavel say: The space is bent less.
Its similar to saying why does a quarter roll down a steeper hill faster than a slight hill.
Roll speed is like weight in that analogy.
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Robert say: Because there is no gravity on the moon.
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