The mass
(m) of a body is
the measure of the amount of material present in that
body. The weight (wt)
of a body is the force exerted by that body when its mass
is accelerated in gravitational
field. Mass and weight are related as shown in following
Equation:
Note that gc
has the same numerical
value as the acceleration of gravity at sea level, but is
not the acceleration
of gravity. Rather, it is a dimensional constant employed
to facilitate the use of
Newton’s Second Law of Motion with the
English system of units.
The weight of a body is a force produced
when the mass of the body is accelerated by gravitational
acceleration. The mass of a certain body will remain
constant even if the gravitational
acceleration acting upon that body changes.
