Question

How much is the weight of an object on the moon as compared to its weight on the earth? Give reason for your answer.

Answer 1

Weight of a body is defined as the force acting on that body due to gravity. Also, Weight is directly proportional to gravity. on the moon, the value of acceleration due to gravity is about one-sixth of that on the earth. Using these concepts we will answer this question.we know, $\text{weight = mass} \times \text{gravity}$.

Complete answer:
Every item in the cosmos, according to Newton's law of gravitation, exerts a force on another object. The force of gravity is the name given to this force. In nature, the power of gravity is always attractive. This means that one body is always attracting the attention of another.The gravitational force between two bodies is given as,
$F = \dfrac{{G{m_1}{m_2}}}{{{r^2}}}$
Where ${m_1}$ and ${m_2}$ are the masses of the two bodies and $r$ is the distance between them. $G$ is the gravitational constant.

A body's weight is equal to the gravitational force it is subjected to. In the case of the earth and an object on it, the object's weight is equal to the gravitational force exerted by the earth on it.Similarly, the gravitational pull exerted by the moon is smaller than the gravitational force exerted by the earth when the same object is on the moon. As a result, the object's weight lowers.As the acceleration due to gravity on the moon is about one-sixth of that on the earth.

Hence, one-sixth is the weight of an object on the moon as compared to its weight on the earth.

Note: The mass of the moon is $\dfrac{1}{{100}}$ times and its radius $\dfrac{1}{4}$ times that of earth.As a result, when compared to Earth, the moon's gravitational attraction is about one-sixth. The moon is far less massive than the Earth and has a different radius as well.