In our daily life, it is common to hear conversations where weight and Mass are talked about as if both were the same thing. In reality, this is not like this, and we will discover it below. The weight of a body at a point is the gravitational force acting on it. His unit in the S.I. is the Newton (N), and mathematically, it is expressed as P = Mass · Gravity 

What Is Weight

Differences between Mass and weight

  • The unit of measure for the Mass in the S.I. is the kilogram (Kg), while weight is the Newton (N).
  • Weight is a vector quantity, while Mass is a scalar quantity.
  • We can only talk about weight when the body is in a place where gravity exists. On Earth, this gravity has an approximate value of g = 9.8 m/s2 at points close to the Earth’s surface. The further away from the center of the Earth, the less our weight will be since gravity decreases as we move away from the Earth’s center.
  • The Mass of a body is inherent to it regardless of whether gravity exists.
  • If you want to know the Mass, you can use a mass measurement instrument such as the balance. Force measurement instruments, such as the dynamometer, are used to know the weight.