🚀 go-pugleaf

>
> In the battle of mass?weight I choose to take up arms with Cheri.  In my
> ninth grade classes I consistently hound the point that "balances" are
> used to determine mass and spring scales to determine weight.  In this

You realize, of course, that scales don't "measure" weight, they merely
record the upward force which, if conditions are right, will be equal
to the weight.  If one is accelerating upward in an elevator, for example,
do the spring scales indicate the weight.  Of course, I think so, but
the prevailing definition of weight as the gravitational force would say
no.

Someone mentioned that customers in the grocery store may confuse the
terminology of mass and weight.  Maybe so, but show me one instance where
this makes any difference to the customer.  I've yet to come across an example,
outside of physics classes, where not knowing the distinction has serious
consequences.

Cheers.
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Van E. Neie                                      ven@physics.purdue.edu
Purdue University
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