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Re: Weight and Mass

On Mon, 24 Sep 2001, Tina Fanetti wrote:

I thought I had explained clearly what the difference between weight =
and mass was to my students. I asked them to write down any question=
s they had at the end of class and some one wants me to explain the d=
ifference again with examples.

Climb up to the top of a ladder which is 300 miles tall. Calculate your
weight. If I recall, it will be about 15% less than at the surface of the
Earth. While you're up there you see the space shuttle go by. It is
orbiting slightly below you. The crew is floating around inside!

Weight changes as you dive off a diving board, run up and down stairs, or
even jump up and down. Mass does not.

Another one:

I don't need to go on a diet, I just need to go live on the
International Space Station. My weight there will be drastically
reduced.

Yeah, but I'll be just as paunchy as ever, since my mass has not changed.


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