Weight (redirected from been a weight off mind)

weight, measure of the force of gravity on a body (see gravitation). Since the weights of different bodies at the same location are proportional to their masses, weight is often used as a measure of mass. However, the two are not the same; mass is a measure of the amount of matter present in a body and thus has the same value at different locations, and weight varies depending upon the location of the body in the earth's gravitational field (or the gravitational field of some other astronomical body). A given body will have the same mass on the earth and on the moon, but its weight on the moon will be only about 16% of the weight as measured on the earth. The distinction between weight and mass is further confused by the use of the same units to measure both—the pound, the gram, or the kilogram. One pound of weight, or force, is the force necessary at a given location to accelerate a one-pound mass at a rate equal to the acceleration of gravity at that location (about 32 ft per sec per sec). Similar relationships hold between the gram of force and the gram of mass and between the kilogram of force and the kilogram of mass.

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weight

Gravitational force of attraction on an object, caused by the presence of a massive second object, such as the Earth or Moon. It is a consequence of Isaac Newton's universal law of gravitation, which states that the force of attraction between two objects is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. For this reason, objects of greater mass weigh more on the surface of the Earth. On the other hand, an object's weight on the Moon is about one-sixth of its weight on Earth, even though its mass remains the same, because the Moon has less mass and a smaller radius than the Earth and therefore exerts less gravitational force. Weight W is the product of an object's mass m and the acceleration of gravity g at the location of the object, or W = mg. Since weight is a measure of force rather than mass, the units of weight in the International System of Units are newtons (N). In common usage, weight is measured by the gram in the metric system and by the ounce and pound in the U.S. and British systems.

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weight

1. Physics the vertical force experienced by a mass as a result of gravitation. It equals the mass of the body multiplied by the acceleration of free fall. Its units are units of force (such as newtons or poundals) but is often given as a mass unit (kilogram or pound).

2. a system of units used to express the weight of a substance

3. a unit used to measure weight

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weight [wāt]

(mathematics)

The unique nonnegative integer assigned to an edge or arc in a network or directed network.

The sum of the weights (first definition) of all the arcs in ans-tcut.

The nonnegative integer assigned to a vertex in a generalizeds-tnetwork.

The sum of the weights of all the arcs and vertices in a generalizeds-tcut.

(mechanics)

The gravitational force with which the earth attracts a body.

By extension, the gravitational force with which a star, planet, or satellite attracts a nearby body.

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Weight

The gravitational weight of a body is the force with which the Earth attracts the body. By extension, the term is also used for the attraction of the Sun or a planet on a nearby body. This force is proportional to the body's mass and depends on the location. Because the distance from the surface to the center of the Earth decreases at higher latitudes, and because the centrifugal force of the Earth's rotation is greatest at the Equator, the observed weight of a body is smallest at the Equator and largest at the poles. The difference is sizable, about 1 part in 300. At a given location, the weight of a body is highest at the surface of the Earth. Weight is measured by several procedures. See Mass

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Weight 

the force with which a body at rest in a gravitational field acts on a suspension or horizontal support that obstructs the body’s free fall. The weight of a body P is numerically equal to the gravitational force acting upon it—that is, P = mg, where m is the mass of the body and g is the acceleration of free fall (or the acceleration of gravity). Since the mass of a body is a constant quantity (under ordinary conditions), but the value g changes on earth with latitude and altitude above sea level, the weight of a body changes correspondingly. At the same time the value g, as well as the weight, depends on the acceleration caused by the rotation of the earth around its axis; for this reason, the weight of a body at the equator is 1/288 less than at the poles.

Within a small field near the earth’s surface the value g may be considered constant and the weight of a body may be considered proportional to its mass. This assumption is used for measuring the mass of bodies by weighing them on beam balances; here the value g for the weighed body and the balance weight are considered identical. Spring balances measure the weight of a body; to determine mass when using them, it is necessary to know in addition the value of g at the point of weighing. Weight and mass are different physical quantities that cannot be considered identical; they are measured in different units—weight in units of force (newtons, kilograms-force, tons-force, and others); and mass in units of mass (kilograms, grams, tons, and so on).

A body immersed in a liquid or gas medium is acted upon, in addition to the force of gravity, by Archimedes’ force, which is equal to the weight of the displaced volume of the medium. For this reason, for example, a spring balance will show a lesser weight in an air medium than in a vacuum; for beam balances the differences in indications will depend on the ratio of the density of the balance weight to that of the weighed body.

A body at rest in an elevator that is moving vertically with an acceleration w will act on the floor of the elevator with a force F = m(g ± w) (plus sign when moving upward, minus sign downward), which is equivalent to an increase (overload) or decrease in weight. During free fall of the elevator (w = g), weightlessness occurs; such a state occurs for any body that is moving freely and progressively in a gravitational field (a rocket, satellite, and so on).

S. M. TARG