Weight (Measurement)

Weight is a measurement of how heavy something is. On Earth, weight tells you how hard gravity is pulling an object down. A bowling ball weighs more than a soccer ball because gravity pulls harder on the bowling ball.

In the United States, weight is usually measured in ounces, pounds, and tons. A slice of bread weighs about an ounce. A bag of sugar weighs about five pounds. A small car weighs about one ton, which is 2,000 pounds. Most other countries use grams, kilograms, and metric tons. A paperclip weighs about one gram. A textbook weighs about one kilogram, which is a little over two pounds.

People measure weight using a scale. A bathroom scale tells you how heavy you are. A grocery store scale weighs fruits and vegetables so the store knows what to charge. Doctors weigh babies to make sure they are growing.

Here is something strange about weight. It is not the same everywhere. On the Moon, gravity is much weaker than on Earth. A kid who weighs 80 pounds on Earth would weigh only about 13 pounds on the Moon. The kid would not be any smaller. The Moon just pulls less hard.

Scientists tell weight apart from mass. Mass is how much stuff an object is made of, and it never changes. Weight changes depending on where you are.