There's no such _thing_ as a weight

"Don1" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message
news:1112040297.048909.37960@z14g2000cwz.googlegro ups.com...


Nobody but you is wasting their time to see what you don't yet.

Morituri-|-Max wrote:

Help me out here Moritori: Why isn't weight a property of matter?

Don

"Don1" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message
news:1112096279.004639.291440@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...

I think weight is only a force and is not constant. Weight varies with distance
above the earth's surface and is different on the moon so how can this be a
property of matter?

Don1 wrote:
seen.

I told you. Weight is not a property of a massive object, because it
is the strength of the interaction between two objects -- the Earth and
the other mass.

The force of gravity the Earth exerts on an object is equal to the
force of gravity the object exerts on the Earth. How can that force
belong to one or the other?

PD

> Don't get your water hot PD; I've known this all along: What I didn't

In some contexts, it is OK. They are equivalent within a certain context,
but not in general.


If a scale compares one mass to another, then it is effectively measuring
mass, and is independent of gravity field strength. If it compares one force
against another, such as weight against spring force it is effectively
measuring weight, which is a force.


It can be seen as a property within a certain context, but not in general.

"Don1" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message
news:1112096279.004639.291440@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...

Dun.. it would be kind of silly to make it a property when it changes
depending on where you are.

Morituri-|-Max wrote:
seen.


Aren't you confusing 'property' with 'quantity'?

Don

TripleEight wrote:
seen.
with distance
this be a

Are you telling us that properties are constants?

Don

PD wrote:
and
Oh yeah, I guess you did tell us that.

Well, I tell you; I don't think that force _belongs_ to either one of
them: It's the mutual force - acting and reacting - that each exerts on
the other. A lighter body would exert less force than a heavier one:
Therefore it _is_ a property of the body exerting the force, and varies
depending on the acceleration of free fall (g) at the location where it
is being exerted.

Like I've been telling you: Mass (m) is equal to the ratios f/a and
w/g!

Force is [f = (m)a = (f/a)a]!

Don

o<eth>in wrote:
didn't
context,
I don't see how you can say that? Mass is a quantity of matter, and
weight is the force that a mass (m) exerts on a weight-scale or other
support.

spring
measuring

Only if the scale arms don't tilt, or a spring's length doesn't change;
otherwise the amount of tilt, or change, indicates - on a calibrated
scale - the weight-force that is tilting or changing them.

If it compares one force
effectively
general.

It's not a case of context; it's a case of the mechanics governing the
situation!

Don