Question

does a bathroom scale measure mass or weight?

Answer 1

weight.

Answer 2

This is because the mass of a person does not change regardless of which planet you are on, however weight, which is defined to be the force on a mass due to gravity, does change.

Answer 3

If you took your scale and went to the moon, you would weigh lighter.

Answer 4

it does both. in normal newtonian world, such as in your bathroom, there is a direct linear relationship between mass (m) and "weight" (W). as in \(W = mg\)

Answer 5

both, but wouldnt you have to calculate the mass by dividing the weight in kg by g=9.8? for earth at least.

Answer 6

a scale isnt necessarily going to measure the number of matter present in a body/object

Answer 7

aka the mass

Answer 8

you would have to calculate the mass.

Answer 9

@q12157 ,
@IrishBoy123 is saying that there is a linear relationship between the mass and weight given the gravitational acceleration constant (g). Because of this relationship, a bathroom scale is technically measuring both simultaneously, although you would have to divide by the constant to receive your mass.

Answer 10

But in the context of the question, the answer is probably weight

Answer 11

thanks @CShrix

yet indeed.....

in the context of the question they will say that weight is the correct answer and mass the wrong answer

Answer 12

weight because mass is characterized by the amount of space an object occupies