Major Difference Between Mass And Weight With Examples

What is Mass?

Mass is defined as the amount of physical matter contained in the body of an object. Mass of a physical body is usually measured in grams (g) or kilograms (kg). Mass has no any relationship with gravity, centrifugal force or any other force. In the same regard, these forces have zero effect on the mass of a body. Mass always remains constant irrespective of the location it is measured or the gravitational force applied to it. In other words it is constant in the entire universe. Mass of a body or object is measured by physical balance, Pan Balance, triple-beam balance, lever balance, electronic balance etc.

What You Need To Know About Mass

1. Mass is the quantity of matter contained in a physical body.
2. Mass has magnitude but no direction and therefore it is a scalar quantity.
3. The mass of a physical body will never be zero, unless it is moving at the speed of light.
4. Mass of a physical body remains constant irrespective of the location it is measured. In other words it is constant in the entire universe.
5. Mass is an intrinsic property of a body.
6. Mass is a property of matter.
7. Mass is the measure of inertia.
8. Mass has no any relationship with gravity, centrifugal force or any other force. In the same regard these forces have zero effect on the mass of a body.
9. Mass of a body or object is measured by physical balance, Pan Balance, triple-beam balance, lever balance, electronic balance etc.
10. Mass is calculated by the equation Mass=weight/gravity (m=w/g). It can also be calculated by the equation Mass=volume x Density.
11. The SI unit of mass is Kilogram (kg) and CGS unit is Gram (g).
12. Mass is a base quantity.

Also Read: Difference Between Fundamental Unit And Derived Unit

What is Weight?

Weight is the measure of the amount of downwards force that gravity exerts on an object. This force increases with the object’s mass, the more inertia it has, the harder gravity pulls. On Earth’s surface, the force of gravity is about 9.8 Newtons per kilogram. Although weight is a physical quantity, it is not a property of the matter as same matter may have different weight based on the attraction force. The amount of weight of a physical body can be big or small depending on the amount of gravity acting upon it, the more the gravity, the bigger the weight, the lesser the gravity, the smaller the weight.  Also weight of a physical body can be zero, when no gravity acts upon the body or when a body is in a non-gravity environment like in the space. Weight of a body or object is measured using a spring balance.

What You Need To Know About Weight

1. Weight is the gravitation force which makes a body attracted towards the center of the earth.
2. Weight has both magnitude and direction; therefore it is a vector quantity.
3. Weight of a physical body can be zero, when no gravity acts upon the body or when a body is in a non-gravity environment like in the space.
4. Weight of a body varies depending on the location it is measured. For example the weight of a body on earth and space will totally be different.
5. Weight is not a property of matter.
6. Weight is an extrinsic property of a body.
7. Weight is the measure of force.
8. The amount of weight of a physical body can be big or small depending on the amount of gravity acting upon it. The more the gravity, the bigger the weight, the lesser the gravity the smaller the weight.
9. Weight of a body or object is measured using a spring balance.
10. Weight is calculated by the equation, weight=Mass X Gravity (w=m x g). It can also be calculated by the equation Weight= Mass X Acceleration due to gravity.
11. SI unit of weight is Newton (N) and CGS unit is Dyne (dyne).
12. Weight is a derived quantity.

Also Read: Difference Between Scalar And Vector Quantity

Difference Between Mass And Weight In Tabular Form

Similarities Between Mass And Weight

• Both are measurable.
• Both are physical quantities
• Both have certain specific dimension unit