How can you determine the weight of an object by not weighing it?

Answer 1

There are two methods for weighing airplanes. The first is to actually put the airplane on a set of scales, one under each wheel, and determine the weight that way. The other, common for large aircraft, is to calculate the weight. When a new aircraft is certified by the FAA, it is actually weighed at the factory and an empty weight is determined for each model. The aircraft weight is then recalculated for any changes made to that model. When an airline buys a fleet of the same model aircraft, it determines a basic operating weight (BOW) for the fleet. BOW is the empty weight of the aircraft with the weight of normal operational stores added. These include such items oil and other fluids, spare parts, galley stores, emergency equipment, normal crew, etc...basically, everything except fuel, passengers and cargo. When an aircraft is ready for a flight, its weight is determined by starting with the BOW and adding the actual weight of everything that has been added to the aircraft for that flight. These normally include the actual fuel load, the weight of the passengers (either actual weights if the flight is critical, or average weights if not), the actual or average weight of bags, and the actual weight of the cargo. The end result is the aircraft take-off gross weight (TOGW), which is then used to determine the expected performance of the aircraft (how high it will be able to fly, how fast, etc.). The en route fuel burn is calculated and then subtracted from the TOGW to get landing weight which is used to determine landing performance (how much runway will be needed, stopping distance, etc). Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Small to medium sized airplanes are weighed by putting a scale under each wheel and adding up all the results. Really big airplanes are too big for scales and are weighed in pieces when first being built, then the weights are added up. Further tracking of the weight is done when things are added or removed. It's a big accounting job. It is possible to get the weight from the tire pressure but you have to know the tire contact area, which is very difficult to establish. It is also possible to get the weight from the shock absorber "oleos". A heavy airplane will compress them more. Last but not least, an airplane will fly differently depending on its weight (and a dozen other variables).

Answer 3

You can compare the masses of two boxes without weighing them by lifting them up, if you can and feeling how heavy they are. If they vary in size then it is probable that the bigger box will have a greater mass than the smaller box.

Answer 4

Answers:

* Disassemble the plane and load it onto a cargo ship. The ship will sink lower into the water with the plane on board than it was before. The change in freeboard will translate into a tonnage loaded. * Compact the plane into as tight a cube as possible. The volume of the cube multiplied by the density of the main component of the plane (e.g. aluminum) will provide a good estimate of the weight. * Tow the plane down a long runway at increasing speed. At the wind speed that the plane lifts off the back calculation of the engineering for the wings will tell you the "lift" provided. This will equal the weight

Answer 5

If you know what the weight is of the substance per volume you can find out by putting it into a beaker of a certain amount of water and see how much the water has risen (that then is the volume of the object) and then calculate it.

Answer 6

All sorts of ways.

* One way would be to weigh it on balancing scales. * Another would be to find out the weight of a cubic unit of the object's material. Next, determine the cubic volume (maybe by measurement or displacement) of the object. Multiply the units of volume by weight per unit of volume and you will know the object's total mass.

Answer 7

You can use measuring tape. Measure your waist, thighs, and butt.

Answer 8

You could use a calibrated linear spring.