The mass of an object is the amount of matter it contains and is measured in kilograms (kg). The weight of an object is the size of gravitational attraction between the object and the planet (or moon) it is on. We measure weight in Newton (N).
The table below gives some examples of the masses and weights of different objects on the Earth and on the Moon.
We can see from this table that gravity on the Moon’s surface is only 1/6th of that on the Earth. So objects here only weigh 1/6th of what they would weigh on Earth. The masses of all the objects do not change. They are the same here on the Earth as they are on the Moon.
Working out weight
Weight depends on how much mass an object has. It also depends on the strength of gravity.
We say that the strength of the Earth’s gravity is 10 Newton per kilogram (10N/kg). We call this the Earth’s gravitational field strength. We can work out the weight of an object as follows.
Weight = mass x gravitational field strength
(Newton, N) (Kilograms, kg) (Newton/kilogram, N/kg)
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