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Name: Unknown
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Around 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?


Replies:
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

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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