The mass of an object is a measure of what?

Question

The mass of an object is a measure of what?

Answer 1

How gravity will affect it.



They're looking for inertia, the ability of a body to resist forces.

Answer 2

Others have given the answer they're looking for (inertia) but it's worth elaborating slightly. The definition of mass often given in physics classes is something like 'the amount of matter an object is made up of' but this isn't actually correct.



There are two masses. The first is given by Newton's 2nd law and defines mass as the relationship between the force you apply to an object and the resulting acceleration. This is known as 'inertial mass' and although we often think it's obvious that this should be related to the 'amount of matter' it isn't immediately clear in any theory why this should be the case.



The second mass is gravitational mass responsible for the gravitational force between objects. As far as we've been able to measure, gravitational and inertial mass are the same, but again, it's not clear why this should be the case. This is something the Higgs boson might help us understand.

Answer 3

The mass of an object is a measure of its... mass! SI unit is Kg.



Gravity*Mass=Weight.



So weight and mass are two different things.

Answer 4

you can use a triple beam balance or you can check it on the interenet Just go to google and type in mass of _________ (put the object in the blank.) Hope I helped!(:

Answer 5

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Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

The mass of an object is a measure of what?

Answer 7

The mass is a measure of how much matter an object has

Answer 8

Basically it's a measure of how much space the object occupies. Or all of its collective atoms. It is NOT weight. Weight is the measure of the pull of gravity on an object and mass is a measure of how much matter and object has.



It's inertia.

Answer 9

the weight how heavy it is

Answer 10

The mass of an object is a measure of what?



the choices are..



acceleration

force

inertia

velocity.



Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion.

In Newton’s equation, Force = mass * acceleration, acceleration is a change in the state of motion. Force is the cause of the change in the state of motion.



MASS IS A MEASURE OF AN OBJECT’S RESISTANCE TO ACCELERATION!!



Objects with greater mass require more force to accelerate than objects with less mass, because objects with more mass have more inertia.



The equation below is very helpful

Mass = rest mass ÷ [1 – (v^2 / c^2)]^ 0.5



Assume v is always less than c.

Then v^2 / c^2 is always a fraction that is less than 1. (the numerator is less than the denominator)



This is Einstein’s equation for the mass of an object versus the velocity of the object. As the velocity increases, the mass of the object increases. The number of atoms does not increase. The number of protons, neutrons, and electrons does not increase.



The object is not any bigger. The number of atoms in the object is the same as when the object was sitting on my desk. What matters, is not that the amount of matter really has not changed, what really matters, is that the matter is becoming more difficult to accelerate.



The object’s resistance to change of motion is increasing, so the inertia of the object is increasing. As the velocity of an object approaches the speed of light; the answer to the equation below approaches infinity.



Mass = rest mass ÷ [1 – (v^2 / c^2)]^ 0.5



The state of rest or uniform motion is the MOST STABLE state of an object. This is a low energy state. As a force is exerted to accelerate the object the velocity of the object increases, so the kinetic energy increases. This is a high energy state. We know that objects with extra energy are less stable. Objects moving at higher velocity have more energy, so they are less stable, so the mass is greater because the inertia is greater.





Another example is nuclear decay!

The reaction equation is shown below:

Am-241 → Np-237 + α + 5.49 * 10^11 Joules of energy

Mass of 1 mole of Am-241 nuclei = 241.0567 grams

Mass of 1 mole of Np-237 nuclei = 237.0480 grams

Mass of 1 mole of alpha particles = 4.0026 grams



Total mass of products = 237.0480 + 4.0026 = 241.0506 grams



Mass of reactant – total mass of products = 241.0567 – 241.0506 = 0.0061 grams



As this reaction occurred, 0.0061grams seems to have disappeared.



Yet, no particles have disappeared!

The nucleus of an Americium-241 atom contains 95 protons and 146 neutrons.



The nucleus of a Neptunium-237 atom contains 93 protons and 144 neutrons.



The alpha particle contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons.



Nuclear particles before the reaction = 95 protons and 146 neutrons.

Nuclear particles after the reaction = (93 + 2) protons and (144 + 2) neutrons = 95 protons and 146 neutrons



All the protons and neutrons are accounted for, NO PARTICLES HAVE DISAPPEARED!! No protons or neutrons are lost!!!



Where did this energy come from!!!



According to Einstein’s equation:

Energy = mass * c^2

Mass = 0.0061 grams = 6.1 * 10-6 kg

c = speed of light = 3 * 10^8 m/s

Energy = 6.1 * 10-6 * (3 * 10^8)^2 = 5.49 * 10^11 Joules



As the nucleus of an Americium-241 atom under goes radioactive decay, it becomes more stable. The release of 5.49 * 10^11 Joules of energy is how the nucleus becomes more stable!



The energy of the nucleus of Neptunium-237 is 5.49 * 10^11 Joules less than the energy of the nucleus of Americium-241; so, the nucleus of Neptunium-237 is more stable than the nucleus of Americium-241.



So, the nucleus of Neptunium-237 has less than the inertia of the nucleus of Americium-241.



Since mass measures inertia, the mass of the nucleus of Neptunium-237 is less than the mass of the nucleus of Americium-241.



The relationship between mass and inertia helps us understand how nuclear energy is produced without destroying any elementary particles.

And

The relationship between mass and inertia helps us understand how Einstein’s equation is used to determine the amount of energy which is produced when the “MASS” of the elementary particles actually decreases.



I hope this helps!