A man stands on the bathroom scale and the reading is 85 kg: what is this man's mass?
85 kg x 9.8 m/s^2 = ? Newtons
To find the man's mass, we need to understand that the reading on the bathroom scale is measuring his weight, not his mass.
Weight is the force exerted on an object due to gravity, and it is measured in units such as kilograms or pounds. Mass, on the other hand, is a measure of the amount of matter in an object and is commonly measured in kilograms.
To calculate the man's mass, we need to convert his weight into mass using the acceleration due to gravity.
Step 1: Convert the weight from kilograms to Newtons:
Since weight is a force, we need to convert it from kilograms to Newtons using the acceleration due to gravity, which is approximately 9.8 meters per second squared (9.8 m/s^2).
Weight (in Newtons) = Mass (in kilograms) × Acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2)
To convert from kilograms to Newtons, we multiply the weight by 9.8.
Weight (in Newtons) = 85 kg × 9.8 m/s^2
Step 2: Calculate the mass:
Now that we have the weight in Newtons, we can calculate the mass. We can rearrange the equation for weight to solve for mass.
Weight = Mass × Acceleration due to gravity
Mass = Weight / Acceleration due to gravity
Substituting the values into the equation, we find:
Mass = (Weight in Newtons) / (Acceleration due to gravity)
Mass = (85 kg × 9.8 m/s^2) / (9.8 m/s^2)
Step 3: Calculate the mass:
Mass = 85 kg
Therefore, the man's mass is 85 kg.
To determine the man's mass, we can use the reading on the bathroom scale, which is 85 kg. The reading on the bathroom scale actually represents the man's weight, not his mass.
Weight is the force exerted on an object due to gravity, while mass is the amount of matter in an object. Weight can vary depending on the gravitational pull, but mass remains constant.
If we assume that the man is on Earth, where the standard gravity is approximately 9.8 m/s^2, we can calculate his weight by multiplying his mass by the gravitational acceleration:
Weight = Mass x Gravity
Rearranging the formula to solve for mass, we have:
Mass = Weight / Gravity
Substituting the given weight of 85 kg into the equation and the approximate value of gravitational acceleration, we can calculate the man's mass:
Mass = 85 kg / 9.8 m/s^2
Calculating this, the man's mass would be approximately 8.67 kg.
So, the man's mass is approximately 8.67 kg, assuming he is on Earth with a standard gravitational pull.