If you could stand on the Sun without being roasted, how much would you weigh? The gravitational pull is different for different objects. Let’s find out which celestial object you’d crack the pavement on, and which your lightweight toes would have to be careful about jumping on in case you leapt off the planet.


Weight is nothing more than a measure of how much gravity is pulling on you. Mass is a measure of how much stuff you’re made out of. Weight can change depending on the gravitational field you are standing in. Mass can only change if you lose an arm.


Materials


  • Scale to weigh yourself
  • Calculator
  • Pencil
Please login or register to read the rest of this content.

Have a question ?

Tell us what you're thinking...

Comments

7 Responses to “Watch Your Weight”

  1. Sorry for the trouble – here are the answers to the questions above!

    1. (d) all of the above
    2. FALSE. Gravity accelerates all things equally. Which means all things speed up the same amount as they fall.

    3. TRUE. Gravity does pull on things differently. Gravity is pulling greater on objects that weigh more.

    4. On planet Earth, the golf ball has less drag in our atmosphere, so the ball will hit the ground first. On the moon, they will hit the ground at the same time. You can try this with a ping pong ball and a golf ball – both hit the ground at the same time. Then try a basketball and a marble. Which one hits first?

    5. If you aim at the monkey, the dart will hit the monkey. Once the dart exits the gun, there’s only one force acting on it with any significance: gravity. And only gravity is acting on the monkey after he loses his grip in the branch. The constant acceleration due to gravity affects both the monkey and the tranquilizer in the same way. The dart falls a little bit below the initial aim and by the time the it travels the horizontal distance to reach the branch, the monkey will have fallen the same amount as the dart in the vertical direction, leading to impact. The speed of the dart does not matter.

  2. gracielabecerra2009 says:

    Hello!
    Could I please get the answers to the first 3 questions please?
    Thank you!

  3. No, because the “answers” you get are totally dependent on how much YOU weigh!

  4. grayson97 says:

    Do you have the answers for the questions?

  5. amyclineotr says:

    There are still no answers to questions 1 – 3 of the download handout. Thanks!

  6. Thanks for catching that! I’ll have Crystal email them to you and we will get the file updated.

  7. jerezkids says:

    There are no answers to questions 1 – 3 of the download handout. It just repeats the question but no answers. Thanks