Unit 4 – Mass, Weight and Density

4.1 – Mass and Weight

Definitions

 Mass (m) is a measure of the amount of substance in a body.

Mass is constant regardless of the location of the object.

SI unit : kilogram (kg)

 Inertia is the resistance of a mass to change its state of rest or motion. An object with more
mass has greater inertia.

 Gravitational force is the force of attraction between two masses. This gravitational force
acting (pulling) on an object is called its weight.

 A gravitational field is a region in which a mass experiences a force due to gravitational

attraction.

 The gravitational field strength g is defined as the gravitational force acting per unit mass of
the object.

SI unit : N/kg or ms-2

g is also called the acceleration of free fall or acceleration due to gravity :

o On Earth, g = 10 N/kg
o On the Moon, g = approximately 1.7 N/kg

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