Weight and Mass

Mrs. Wood
4th Grade

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 Index
 Definitions – 3-4
 Newton’s Second Law – 5-6
 Weight – 7-9
 Mass – 10-14
 Examples – 15
 YouTube Video – 16
 MathCats – 17
 Summary – 18
 References – 19
 Worksheet – 20

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 Weight
 The force which is felt by a given mass
due to gravity is defined as weight. The
weight of an object on Earth, thus
depends entirely on the gravity (force of
attraction) that is between the object and
Earth.

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 Mass
 Mass is the quantity of matter in an
object.
-it’s the “stuff in stuff”

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 Newton’s Second Law
 The fundamental relation between the
mass and the weight is defined by
Newton's Second Law and can be
expressed as
 F = m a        
~where
 F = force (N)
 m = mass (kg)
 a = acceleration (m/s2)
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 Newton’s Law
 This equation helps us understand that if
either of the mass increases, the increase
in force of attraction will be directly
proportional to the mass.

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 Weight
 Your weight depends on how much gravity
is acting on you at the moment; you'd
weigh less on the moon than on Earth,
and in interstellar space you'd weigh
almost nothing at all.

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 Weight
 W=mg
 Weight = mass x acceleration (due to
gravity)

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 Weight
 Spring balance is used to calculate the
weight of an object.

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 Mass
 Mass is often called as weight.
 Mass can be measured in both metric and
customary units.
 Kilogram, gram, and milligram are the
metric units whereas ounces and pounds
are the customary units

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 Mass
 Scale is used to calculate the mass of an
object

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 Mass

 Which object has more mass?

a bowling ball or a tennis ball?
a bicycle or a semi-truck?
an egg or a chicken?
 If you were in outer space, which one of the
above objects would have a greater mass?
 If you were in outer space, which one of the
above objects would weight more?

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 Mass
 Which of the following metric units would you
use to measure the weight of a pizza?
Choices:
A. grams
B. millimeters
C. seconds
D. liters

Correct Answer: A
Grams is used to measure not too small and not
too large weights.

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 Mass
 Example
-Suppose a sandwich weighs 7 ounces then
the same mass in grams is approximately
200 grams.
As 1 ounce is about 28 grams then 7
ounce=7×28 200 grams.

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 Example
 Weight versus Mass
 A car's mass is 1,644 kg. The weight can
be calculated:
 w = (1,644 kg)(9.807 m/s2)
     = 16122.7 N
     = 16.1 kN
 - there is a force (weight) of 16.1 kN
between the car and the earth.
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 Mass vs. Weight Video
 YouTube Video

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 Math Cats
 Mass and Weight
(click on above)

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 Summary
 So basically, the bottom line is that all
objects have mass and weight. But, the
difference between mass and weight is
that mass remains constant no matter
where the object is placed in the earth or
in the universe. The weight will depend on
the place where the object is placed.

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 References
 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/
difference-between-mass-and-weight.html
 http://www.icoachmath.com/Sitemap/
Mass.html
 http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/
mass-weight-d_589.html
 http://www.mathcats.com/explore/
balance/balance.html

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 Worksheet
 Go to the assignment bin and get a
worksheet on weight and mass
 Get into groups of two
 You have 20 minutes to complete the
worksheet with your partner
 When completed, put the worksheet in the
completed assignment bin

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