What is the difference between mass and weight?

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Images

Closeup of a balance scale with stacks of coins on each side, as a businessman in a suit places coins onto one of the scale pans.

A line graph shows how the weight of a 50-kilogram person decreases as the distance from Earth's center increases, with weight sharply dropping as distance grows, illustrating the effect of gravity.

Interactive weight calculator with an Earth-weight input, pound or kilogram options, and selectable Sun and planets. Mercury is selected, showing that you would be 2.65 times lighter.

What is the difference between mass and weight?: Media

Images

Closeup of a balance scale with stacks of coins on each side, as a businessman in a suit places coins onto one of the scale pans.

Balancing mass v. weight

Although mass and weight are often treated interchangeably, the two concepts are...

© erika8213/stock.adobe.com

A line graph shows how the weight of a 50-kilogram person decreases as the distance from Earth's center increases, with weight sharply dropping as distance grows, illustrating the effect of gravity.

Weight and distance from Earth

The weight of an object with a mass of 50 kg (110 pounds) will decrease as its distance...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Interactives

Interactive weight calculator with an Earth-weight input, pound or kilogram options, and selectable Sun and planets. Mercury is selected, showing that you would be 2.65 times lighter.

How much would you weigh on other planets?

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.