Mass, Weight and Gravity

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If you drop an object, it falls to the ground. It is difficult to see
how a falling object moves. However, a multi-flash photograph
can show the pattern of movement when an object falls.

Figure 3.10 shows a ball falling. There are seven images of the
ball, taken at equal intervals of time. The ball falls further in each
successive time interval. This shows that its speed is increasing – it
is accelerating.
➢ When an object accelerates, there must be a
force that is causing it to do so. In this case, the
force of gravity is pulling the ball downwards.
➢ The name given to the gravitational force acting
Figure 3.10: The increasing
on an object that has mass is its weight. speed of a falling ball is
Because weight is a force, it is measured in captured in this multi-flash
newtons (N). image.

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Gravity, Mass and Weight

❖ What is gravity?
❖ What is the difference between Mass and Weight?

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 Gravity
Gravity is a force of attraction between any two objects
in the universe.

❖ The force that attracts objects towards one another,

especially the force things fall to the ground.
Why?

How it works?

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Gravity
• If one object has a large mass and another object has a small mass,
the force of gravity of the large mass is greater than the force of
gravity of the small mass.
• This difference in the strength of the forces may result in the object
with the small mass being pulled towards the object with the large
mass.

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How do you imagine the force of gravity?

Does its strength depend on location?

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❖ The amount of gravity of an object depends on size
❖ and the distance between two objects.
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❖ What will happen
if there is not
Earth’s gravity on
the moon?

The moon will go

away straight line as
it’s motion.

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 What is mass?

Mass

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You can measure the mass of an object using a balance..

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Using triangle Formulation

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 What is gravitational field strength?
❖ Gravitational field strength (g) is defined as the
gravitational force acting per unit mass on an object.
➢On Earth, the gravitational field strength is about 10 Nkg-1
➢ This means that a 1kg mass experiences a force of 10N due to
Earth's gravitational pull.
❖ On the Moon gravitational field strength is 1.6 Nkg-1
❖ In the space, gravitational field strength is 0 Nkg-1

Word equation
Weight (in N) = Mass (in kg) x Gravitational field strength (in N kg-1)
Symbol equation
W=mg
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Calculating weight and gravitational field strength
We have seen that an object of mass 1 kg has a weight of 9.8 N; an object of mass 2 kg has a
weight of 19.6 N; and so on. To calculate an object’s weight W from its mass m, we multiply
by 9.8, the value of the acceleration of free fall g. We can write this as an equation in words
and in symbols:

weight = mass × acceleration of free fall

W = mg

The gravitational field strength at a point is the gravitational force exerted per unit mass
placed at that point. From the equation, W = mg, the gravitational field strength, g, is:

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Distinguishing mass and weight

It is important to understand the difference between the two

quantities, mass and weight.

• The mass of an object, measured in kilograms, tells you how much

matter an object is composed of.
• The weight of an object, measured in newtons, is the gravitational
force that acts on the object.

If you take an object to the Moon, it will weigh less than it does on
Earth, because the Moon’s gravity is weaker than the Earth’s.
However, its mass will be unchanged, because the object is made of
just as much matter as when it was on Earth.

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When we weigh an object using a balance, we are comparing its weight with
that of standard weights on the other side of the balance (Figure 3.11). We are
making use of the fact that, if two objects weigh the same, their masses will be
the same. We always talk about weighing an object. However, if the balance we
use has a scale in kilograms or grams, we will find its mass, not its weight.

Figure 3.11: When the balance is balanced, we know

that the weights on opposite sides are equal, and so the
masses must also be equal.

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Mass is constant
Weight is variable
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 What is weight? (effect of Gravity)
➢The force which a mass experience due to
its being in a gravity field is called its weight
i.e., the pull of gravity on a body.
➢Weight is a force and has direction. The
direction is downward-towards the center of
What is Mass? the Earth.
➢An object has different weights at different
➢ Mass is a measure of an amount of matter or places, but its mass is the same.
substance in a body.
➢ It is a property of an object that cannot be ➢SI unit is newton (N)
changed by its location, shape and speed.
➢ The amount of mass a body has depends on
the number and composition of atoms and
molecules that make up the body.

➢ SI unit is kilogram (kg)

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Mass and Density
Word equation
Density= mass/ volume

Symbol equation
ρ = m/v

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 Summary
• Mass is a measure of amount of matter in an object.
• Weight is a force experienced by the gravitational pull( Gravity).
• Gravity is the force that exists between any two objects with mass.
• Gravitational field strength (g) :
the gravitational force exerted per unit mass placed at that point.
• Density is a physical property an object and it measures how light or heavy of that body.

Learning Outcome_ You will be able to:

➢Calculate Weight and Gravitational Field Strength

➢Distinguish Mass and Weight
➢Predict whether an object will float
➢Predict whether one liquid will float on another
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❖ Objects fall to the ground because they have weight. Their
weight is caused by the gravitational field of the Earth,
pulling downwards on their mass. The Moon’s gravitational
field is much weaker, which is why objects weigh less when
they are on the Moon.

In this section, we will look at two situations in which we have

to take careful account of the directions of the forces acting
on an object.

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Falling through the air
When Objects fall in to the air what will happen?
➢ The Earth’s gravity is equally strong at all points close
to the Earth’s surface. If you climb to the top of a tall
building, your weight will stay the same.
➢ We say that there is a uniform gravitational field close
to the Earth’s surface.
➢ This means that all objects fall with the same
acceleration as the ball shown in Figure 3.10, provided
there is no other force acting to reduce their
acceleration.
➢ For many objects, the force of air resistance can affect
their acceleration. Figure 3.10: The increasing
speed of a falling ball is
captured in this multi-flash
image.

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❖ Parachutists make use of air resistance. A
free-fall parachutist (Figure 3.12a) jumps
out of an aircraft and accelerates
downwards.

❖ Figure 3.12b shows the forces on a

parachutist at different points in his fall.
Notice that his weight does not change (so
the length of the downward-pointing arrow
does not change).
• At first, air resistance has little effect.
However, air resistance increases with the
speed of motion.
➢ As the parachutist falls faster, eventually air
resistance balances his weight.
Figure 3.12a: Free-fall parachutists, before they open their parachutes. They
Then the parachutist stops accelerating: he can reach a terminal velocity of more than 50 m/s. b: The forces on a falling
falls at a steady rate known as the terminal parachutist. Notice that his weight is constant. When air resistance equals
velocity. weight, the forces are balanced and the parachutist reaches a steady speed.
The resultant force on the free-fall parachutist The parachutist is always falling (velocity downwards), although his
acceleration is upwards when he opens his parachute.
is the result of two forces acting along the
same line and acting in opposite directions. 30
❖ Opening the parachute greatly increases its
area and hence the air resistance. Now there is
a much bigger force upwards. The forces on
the parachutist are again unbalanced, and he
slows down. The idea is to reach a new, slower,
terminal velocity of about 10 m/s, at which
speed he can safely land. At this point, weight
= drag, and so the forces on the parachutist are
balanced.

❖ Figure 3.12c shows how the parachutist’s

speed changes during a fall.

➢ When the graph is horizontal, speed is constant

and forces are balanced. When the graph is
sloping, speed is changing. The parachutist is
accelerating or decelerating, and forces are
unbalanced. Figure 3.12 c: A speed–time graph for a falling
parachutist. 31
➢ The idea of a parachute is to greatly increase the air resistance. Then terminal velocity is reduced,
and the parachutist can land safely.
Figure 3.10 shows how a parachutist’s velocity might change during descent.
➢ Terminal velocity depends on the weight and surface area of the object.
For insects, air resistance is much greater relative to their weight than for a human being and so their
terminal velocity is quite low.
Insects can be swept up several kilometres into the atmosphere by rising air streams.
Later, they fall back to Earth uninjured. It is said that mice can survive a fall from a high building for the
same reason.

Figure : The velocity of a parachutist

varies during a descent. The force
arrows show weight (downwards) and
air resistance (upwards).

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When a car turns a corner, it changes direction.
Any object moving along a circular path is
changing direction as it goes. A force is needed
to do this. Figure 3.13 shows three objects
following curved paths, together with the forces
that act to keep them on track.
❖ In Figure 3.13a, the boy is spinning an
apple around on the end of a piece of
string. The tension in the string pulls on
the apple, keeping it moving in a circle.

❖ In Figure 3.13b, an aircraft ‘banks’ (tilts)

to change direction. The lift force on its
wings provides the necessary force.
❖ In Figure 3.13c, the Moon is held in its
orbit around the Earth by the pull of the
Earth’s gravity.
Figure 3.13: Examples of
motion along a curved path. In
each case, there is a sideways
force holding the object in its
circular path.
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• There are many examples of bodies
moving in circular paths – rides at a
funfair, clothes being spun dry in
a washing machine, the planets going
round the Sun and the Moon circling
the Earth.
• When a car turns a corner, it may
follow an arc of a circle.
• ‘Throwing the hammer’ is a sport
practised at Highland Games in
Scotland (Figure 1.5.16), in which the
hammer is whirled round and round
before it is released.

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 How the force act on the object?
❖ For an object following a circular path, the object is acted on by a force perpendicular
(at right angles) to its motion. The force that keeps an object moving in a circle always
acts towards the centre of the circle. If the force disappears, the object will move off at
a tangent to the circle; it will not fly outwards, away from the centre.

➢ By moving in a circle, an object will be changing direction continuously (all the time).
Therefore, even if the object is moving at a constant speed, its velocity is changing.
Remember that velocity is a vector and so has direction as well as magnitude (size).

➢ If the velocity of an object is changing, it must be accelerating. This means that an

unbalanced force is acting on the object and this force acts towards the centre of the
circle. The resultant force that acts towards the centre of a circle is the result of a force
acting perpendicular to the motion of the object.

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Changing Direction
• When a force acts at
90 degrees to an
object’s direction of
travel, the force will
cause that object to
change direction

When the two cars collide, the first car changes its
direction in the direction of the force
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 Centripetal force
• In Figure 1.5.17 a ball attached to
a string is being whirled round in
a horizontal circle.
• Its direction of motion is
constantly changing. At A, it is
along the tangent at A; shortly
afterwards, at B, it is along the
tangent at B; and so on.
Velocity has both size and direction; speed has
• It can be seen that motion in a only size. Velocity is speed in a stated direction
circular path is due to a force and if the direction of a moving body changes,
perpendicular to the motion.
even if its speed does not, then its velocity has
changed.
❖ A change of velocity is an acceleration, and
so during its whirling motion the ball is
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accelerating.
 When a larger force will be needed to keep a body moving in a circular path?

• In the case of the whirling ball,

• it is reasonable to say the force is provided by the string
pulling inwards on the ball. Like the acceleration, the
force acts towards the centre of the circle and keeps the
body at a fixed distance from the centre.
• A larger force is needed if
• ● the speed v of the ball is increased, with mass and
radius constant
• ● the radius r of the circle is decreased, with mass and
speed constant
• ● the mass m of the ball is increased, with speed and
radius constant.
• This force, which acts towards the centre and keeps a
body moving in a circular path, is called the centripetal
force (centre-seeking force).
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Questions

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Notes:
• when the forces acting on a body do not balance there is
a net (resultant) force which causes a change of motion, i.e. the body accelerates
or decelerates. The force and the acceleration are in the same direction.
• If the forces balance, there is no change in the motion of the body. However,
there may be a change of shape, in which case internal forces in the body (i.e.
forces between neighbouring atoms) balance the external forces

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➢ The force vector and the acceleration vector are in the same
direction.
➢ This seems obvious when we are talking about increasing the engine
force to make a car accelerate along a straight road.

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Newton’s Third Law

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Newton’s Third Law
• If a body A exerts a force
on body B, then body B
exerts an equal but
opposite force on body
A.
• This is Newton’s third
law of motion and states
that forces never occur
singly but always in pairs
as a result of the action
between two bodies.
For example, when you step forwards from rest your
foot pushes backwards on the Earth, and the Earth
exerts an equal and opposite force forward on you. Two
bodies and two forces are involved.
➢ The small force you exert on the large mass of the
Earth gives no noticeable acceleration to the Earth
but the equal force it exerts on your very much 57
smaller mass causes you to accelerate.
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Newton’s Third Law
➢ . Two bodies and two forces are involved. The small force you exert on the large
mass of the Earth gives no noticeable acceleration to the Earth but the equal force
it exerts on your very much smaller mass causes you to accelerate.

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 Newton’s Third Law
• Note that the pair of equal and opposite forces do
not act on the same body; if they did, there could
never be any resultant forces and acceleration would
be impossible.
• For a book resting on a table, the book exerts a
downward force on the table and the table exerts an
equal and opposite upward force on the book; this
pair of forces act on different objects and are
represented by the red arrows in Figure 8.4.

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An appreciation of the third law
and the effect of friction is
desirable when stepping from a
rowing boat (Figure 1.5.15). You
push backwards on the boat and,
although the boat pushes you
forwards with an equal force, it is
itself now moving backwards
(because friction with the water is
slight). This reduces your forwards
motion by the same amount – so
you may fall in!

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