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Know the Difference between Mass and Weight


One of the most basic concepts you need to grasp in science are 'Mass' and 'Weight' of the object. Although these two different concepts are often referred to be the same, they are entirely different physical parameters. The difference must be tackled right at the start, when you learn about the concept of force, in your basic physics courses. I assume that you have basic knowledge of what is a force and are familiar with Newton's laws of motion, which define it.

How are Mass and Weight Different?
If you plan to go for a career in pure science or physics, it's essential that your basic concepts are clarified. You need to have a precise definition of what each physical concept means, if you hope to understand other concepts of a greater complexity. Let us see what the relationship between mass and weight is and how two objects with the same mass may have different weights.

Right at the outset, let us clearly define mass and weight. Mass is the total 'matter' content in an object, which is made up of atoms and molecules. It could also be defined as the property which causes gravitational force to be exerted on an object. Any object that can feel the attractive gravitational force has mass. It is measured in Kilograms according to SI units. Almost every physical object has mass, except entities like photons of light, which have zero mass and hence are unaffected by gravitational force.

The general theory of relativity proves that every object with mass warps space time around it. This warping of space time gives the illusion of gravitational force acting between objects, causing them to move. Actually, it's the curvature of space time that's responsible for this movement of objects. Still, Newton's law of gravitation, although proved to be wrong, predicts the movement of objects in a gravitational field quite accurately, within a certain range of approximation.

So now that you know what is mass of an object, it will be easier to understand how weight is different from it. The general theory of relativity describes gravity, as a result of the curvature of space time and the natural motion for any object in a gravitational field is 'free fall'. Whenever an object is at rest in the gravitational field, it is obstructed by other objects to be stationary, which gives rise to weight to know more about physics topics and to get assignment help in it you can connect online with physics assignment help provider at internet you can select your tutor as per need.

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