mass
Sign in to saveMass is an intrinsic property of a body. In modern physics, it is generally defined as the strength of an object's gravitational attraction to other bodies - as measured by an observer moving along at the same speed.
AI overview
Mass is a fundamental property that all physical objects possess, defined by how strongly they attract other objects through gravity. It matters because this gravitational attraction shapes how objects interact with each other and move through space.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Physical quantity.conserved
- yes
- Physical quantity.name
- Mass
- Physical quantity.image
- Poids fonte 2 kg 03 (cropped).jpg
- Physical quantity.caption
- A cast iron weight used for balances
- Physical quantity.unit
- kilogram (kg)
- Physical quantity.otherunits
- pound (lb), ounce (oz)
- Physical quantity.symbols
- m
- Physical quantity.baseunits
- kg
- Physical quantity.extensive
- yes
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
26 sectionsContents
- Phenomena
- Units of mass
- History of units of mass
- Definition
- Weight vs. mass
- Inertial vs. gravitational mass
- Origin
- Pre-Newtonian concepts
- Weight as an amount
- Planetary motion
- Galilean free fall
- Mass as distinct from weight
- Newtonian mass
- Newton's cannonball
- Universal gravitational mass
- Inertial mass
- Atomic masses
- In relativity
- Special relativity
- General relativity
- In quantum physics
- Tachyonic particles and imaginary (complex) mass
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. In modern physics, it is generally defined as the strength of an object's gravitational attraction to other bodies - as measured by an observer moving along at the same speed.
It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementary particles, theoretically with the same amount of matter, have nonetheless different masses. Mass in modern physics has multiple definitions which are conceptually distinct, but physically equivalent.