A lunar rover carries a box of rock samples on the Moon. Fig. 1 shows the rover and the downward gravitational force on the box. The box has a mass of 12 kg...
Question 1 Report
A lunar rover carries a box of rock samples on the Moon. Fig. 1 shows the rover and the downward gravitational force on the box. The box has a mass of 12 kg. The gravitational field strength on the Moon is 1.6 N/kg, much less than on Earth.
(a) Calculate the weight of the box on the Moon. [2]
(b) State which quantity stays the same when the box is returned to Earth: mass or weight. [1]
Answer Details
(a) Weight is the gravitational force, calculated using \(W=mg\):
\[W=12\text{ kg}\times1.6\text{ N/kg}=19.2\text{ N}\]
The box weighs \(19.2\text{ N}\) on the Moon [2].
(b) Mass stays the same [1]. Mass is the amount of matter in the box, whereas weight depends on gravitational field strength and is therefore different on Earth.
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