I am an engineer, and there is definitely a distinction between weight and
mass. Weight is a force, mass is a physical property of matter.

A spring scale measures weight (force) by referencing the objects weight to
a spring that exerts a force.

A balance measures mass by referencing a known mass to to mass being
measured. You can also determine the weight if you are measuring at 1G
since you know the weight of the known mass.

On the moon, the balance will give you the same results as on earth. The
spring scale won't...

Dean

Dean
"Bryan Martin" wrote in message
...
In normal everyday usage, weight is not the force due to gravity, it's the
amount of matter in the object you are referring to (aka mass). Check the
label on any product at the grocery store, it lists the net weight of the
product, not the mass. Only in engineering and scientific circles is there
any distinction made between the two terms, and that's only because some
scientist in the distant past was too lazy to come up with a new term for
"the force due to gravity". Long before spring scales were invented,
everything was "weighed" on a balance by comparing it to known standard
weights. A balance does not measure force. You can be certain that any
legal
document that refers to weight is not referring to any kind of force.

in article , Jim Carriere at
am wrote on 3/3/05 2:09 AM:

Montblack wrote:
("Rich S." wrote)

What design considerations would come into play for homebuilt aircraft
in
that environment? Recycling of worn-out or abandoned equipment would
reduce the cost.



Making mine out of gold foil. It's expensive, but easy to work with.

Hey, Part 103 is still 254 lbs. That's a Warrior up here :-)

The best part is the key word in Part 103 is "weighs." There is an
important semantic difference between weight and mass, because 254
lbs weight in lunar gravity is quite a bit more airplane than 254 lbs
weight on earth... so much for the need for sport plane/sport pilot!

--
Bryan Martin