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Re: Weight

At 03:55 PM 4/10/97 -0500, Van Neie wrote:

Incidentally, what is weight anyway? Suppose my mass is 80 kg. On the
Earth I weigh 176 lbs. On the Moon I weigh roughly 30 lbs. How much
would I weigh on an asteroid whose mass is around 100 kg? Technically, I can
compute the gravitational force, but does calling this my weight mean
anything? Where is the dividing line?


And, to futher muddy the waters ... note that Earth "weighs" 176 lb in
_your_ gravitational potential well, while the Moon only "weighs" 30 lb.

George Spagna **********************************************
Department of Physics * *
Randolph-Macon College * "It requires a very unusual mind *
P.O. Box 5005 * to undertake the analysis *
Ashland, VA 23005-5505 * of the obvious." *
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