Which is the more fundamental quantity mass or weight?

Answer 1

Mass is more fundamental than weight. Weight depends on mass, but mass does not depend on weight. A 1kilogram object will have less weight than a 2kilogram object no matter where they both are, so weight depends on mass. However, a single object with differing weight forces, for example a 1kilogram object taken from a hill to a valley, will have constant mass, so mass does not depend on weight. This is the case because weight is proportional to the distance to the source of gravity, which on the surface of Earth is the distance to Earth's center of mass. Since the top of a hill is farther from the center than the bottom of a valley, the object on the hill will experience less weight force than the same object in the valley.

Answer 2

Mass is the actual measurement of the amount of matter in an object. Weight is the perceived interaction between the mass of the object and the gravity of the planet it is on.

For example, your weight would increase if you went to Jupiter, which has stronger gravity, but your mass would remain the same, because you'd have the same number of atoms in your body.

Therefore, mass is based solely on the amount of matter in an object, whereas weight is a combination of mass and gravity.

Answer 3

Mass belongs to the object, and remains the same wherever the object goes,

so it's a real description of the object.

Weight doesn't belong to the object, because it can change in different places,

so it's not a real description of the object.

================================

More: when the natural force of the Earth's Gravitational pull, acts upon all matter,

it is given Weight. Everything has 'mass' and Gravitational force gives it Weight.

The pull of gravity on matter is different at all places on the planet. Scientists and

Engineers use formulae to calculate facts , which sometimes need to take into

account, the magnitude of the force of gravity at the place where the calculation

is to be made use of. A definition of Weight is : The force of gravity acting upon a

Mass.
Because mass is a measurement that goes along with the object, regardless of

where you take it, but its weight depends on the gravitational environment, and

it may change when the object moves from place to place.

Example:

You have an object with a certain mass. It weighs 100 pounds in your laboratory

on Earth. When you take the object with you to the moon, it still has the same

mass, but now it only weighs 16.6 pounds.

Mass is how much matter is in an object. Weight is mass x gravity. Mass is constant, gravity varies depending where you are in the universe. So dealing with mass is a constant, whereas weight varies.
Because weight is based on the gravity of the planet that an objest is on. Plus all calculations of science, rely on mass rather then weight.

Answer 4

Mass, it's the measure of the amount of the material in an object. Weight is the force the object attracts to the Earth or any other space object, like Moon, Sun, Mars, etc. Weight depends on mass.

Answer 5

Because weight depends on the pull of gravity and can thus vary if gravity increases or decreases whereas mass is always the same.

Answer 6

Weight depends on gravity, so it varies with location. Mass is always constant.

Answer 7

Mass is more fundamental because it is constant for an object.