weight
Sign in to saveIn science and engineering, the weight of an object is a quantity associated with the gravitational force exerted on the object by other objects in its environment, although there is some variation and debate as to the exact definition.
AI overview
Weight is the force that gravity exerts on an object, pulling it downward toward Earth or another large body like a planet or moon. It matters because understanding weight helps us measure how much force gravity applies to objects, which is essential for everything from building structures that won't collapse to designing spacecraft that can escape Earth's pull.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Physical quantity.name
- Weight
- Physical quantity.image
- Mass versus weight in earth and mars.svg
- Physical quantity.imagesize
- 300px
- Physical quantity.caption
- A diagram explaining mass and weight
- Physical quantity.unit
- newton (N)
- Physical quantity.otherunits
- pound-force (lbf)
- Physical quantity.symbols
- W
- Physical quantity.baseunits
- kg⋅m⋅s−2
- Physical quantity.dimension
- \mathsf{MLT}^{-2}
- Physical quantity.extensive
- Yes
- Physical quantity.intensive
- No
- Physical quantity.conserved
- No
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
17 sectionsContents
- History
- Newton
- Relativity
- Definitions
- Gravitational definition
- Operational definition
- ISO definition
- Apparent weight
- Mass
- SI units
- Pound and other non-SI units
- Sensation
- <span id="Measuring weight"></span>Measuring
- Relative weights on the Earth and other celestial bodies
- See also
- Notes
- References
{{Infobox physical quantity | name = Weight | width = | image = Mass versus weight in earth and mars.svg | imagesize = 300px | caption = A diagram explaining mass and weight | unit = newton (N) | otherunits = pound-force (lbf) | symbols = W | baseunits = kg⋅m⋅s−2 | dimension = \mathsf{MLT}^{-2} | extensive = Yes | intensive = No | conserved = No | transformsas = | derivations = }} In science and engineering, the weight of an object is a quantity associated with the gravitational force exerted on the object by other objects in its environment, although there is some variation and debate as to the exact definition.
Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar quantity, the magnitude of the gravitational force. Yet others define it as the magnitude of the reaction force exerted on a body by mechanisms that counteract the effects of gravity: the weight is the quantity that is measured by, for example, a spring scale. Thus, in a state of free fall, the weight would be zero. In this sense of weight, terrestrial objects can be weightless: so if one ignores air resistance, one could say the legendary apple falling from the tree, on its way to meet the ground near Isaac Newton, was weightless.