Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Explain what mass is? Explain why your mass does not change, no matter where you go?

Mass is defined as the amount of matter held within a body and hence stays the same, irrespective of our location, since the amount of matter will stay fixed. This definition of mass works for everyday objects and fails only for objects moving at very high speeds (those approaching the velocity of light, c). This means that wherever we go, whether it is U.S. or Australia or Antarctica, our mass would be the same (unless we start losing the contained matter). The same is true, even if we go up to the moon or any other planet, our body will still have the same mass. 


Interestingly, when we hear about weight loss programs, they are actually referring to mass-loss programs. This is because, weight is the product of mass and acceleration due to gravity (which does not change anywhere on Earth and is, more or less, fixed) and hence it is the mass that we lose. An example of mass loss is what Formula 1 race drivers experience during races (due to fluid loss from body). 


Thus, unless we start losing the matter contained in our body, our mass stays the same wherever we go.


Hope this helps. 

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