Weight is a force. How is it related to mass and gravity? Provide formula and units.

• A. W = m/g, units: newtons
• B. W = mg, units: newtons
• C. W = g/m, units: newtons
• D. W = mg, units: pascals

Answer: (B)

Weight is the gravitational force acting on a mass. It depends on how much matter you have and how strong gravity is. The correct relation is W = m g, where m is mass in kilograms and g is the acceleration due to gravity in meters per second squared. The product gives the weight in newtons, since 1 newton equals 1 kg·m/s^2. On Earth, g is about 9.8 m/s^2, so a 10 kg mass weighs roughly 98 N. Mass stays the same everywhere, but weight changes with gravity—you’d weigh less on the Moon and more on a planet with stronger gravity. The unit for weight is newtons because it’s a force. The other formulas don’t match how weight relates to mass and gravity, and using pascals would be incorrect since that’s a unit of pressure, not force.