Bailee explained that when traveling to the moon, he needs to pack light because the weight of objects on the moon is the same as their weight on Earth. The mass of the objects is what changes when the gravitational pull changes. Is Bailee correct in his explanation?
Bailee is incorrect. Both the mass and weight will stay the same.
Bailee is incorrect. Both the mass and weight will stay the same.
Bailee is correct. The weight of the objects stay the same but mass will change.
Bailee is correct. The weight of the objects stay the same but mass will change.
weight changes
mass does not
No, Bailee is not correct in his explanation. The weight of an object actually changes when the gravitational pull changes. Weight is the force experienced by an object due to gravity, and it is dependent on both the mass of the object and the acceleration due to gravity.
On the moon, the gravitational pull is about one-sixth of the Earth's gravitational pull. Therefore, objects on the moon would weigh only about one-sixth of their weight on Earth. However, the mass of the objects remains the same regardless of the gravitational pull. Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object and remains constant regardless of the gravitational pull.
So, when traveling to the moon, Bailee would need to pack light because the objects would weigh less, not because their mass changes.
Bailee's explanation is not entirely accurate. The weight of objects on the moon is actually different from their weight on Earth due to the difference in gravitational pull. However, his statement about the mass of objects changing when the gravitational pull changes is correct.
To clarify, weight is the force exerted by a gravitational field on an object. It is determined by both the mass of the object and the strength of the gravitational pull. On Earth, the gravitational pull is stronger, so objects have a greater weight compared to the moon, where the gravitational pull is much weaker.
Mass, on the other hand, is a property of an object that measures its resistance to acceleration and is the same regardless of the gravitational pull. Therefore, an object will have the same mass on both Earth and the moon.
Practically speaking, when Bailee says he needs to pack light when traveling to the moon, he means he should bring fewer items that have less weight. This is because the payload capacity of spacecraft is limited, and the cost of transporting heavy objects is higher. It is important to distinguish between weight and mass in this context to properly understand Bailee's explanation.