On Wed, 05 May 2004 13:57:13 +0200, CV wrote:

Not quite, though you have a point. What we measure with a balance
is the relationship of the force due to gravity of the object we
want to weigh, to that of a reference object of a known weight.
We are measuring relations between "weights", as the term is
understood in physics.

There is another issue using this method ... in very critical work,
one compares the volumes of the 2 objects on a balance to correct for
the density of air. The air has lift as did Archimedes system to
determine if some crown was pure gold g (is that the coirrect
reference?)