Mass vs Weight

(Created prior to 1993)
  
Question:  Is the unit of measure of weight a gram?  It appears to be trivial 
but it is used in this context on the `IGAP' test.  What gives?
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Strictly speaking a gram is a unit of mass.  However, it can be 
used as a unit of weight in the sense "however much a gram of matter weighs", 
which is about the same everywhere on the surface of the earth.  If you think 
about it, there are almost no circumstances when a person would use the word 
"weight" and really mean weight.  They do not care if the object being 
referred to as weighing 100 pounds (or grams) is on the earth or on the moon - 
what they are really doing is using "weight" to mean mass.  Which is fine with 
everybody, since everybody understands it the same way.

A. Smith
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If "weight" means "the force due to gravity" then I suppose one 
would measure it in terms of units of force, which would be Newtons in MKS and 
dynes in CGS units.

Robert Topper
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