SOLUTION: A spring scale is used to measure force and to determine the mass of a sample of moon rocks on the moon’s surface. The springs were calibrated for the earth’s gravitational acc

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Question 1184543: A spring scale is used to measure force and to determine the mass of a sample of moon rocks on the moon’s surface. The springs were calibrated for the earth’s gravitational acceleration of 9.8 m/s2. The scale reads 4.5 kg, and the moon’s gravitational attraction is 1.8 m/s2. Determine the samples mass. What would the reading be on a beam balance scale?

Answer by ikleyn(52776) About Me  (Show Source):
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The scale reads  4.5  kg  on the moon surface,  but these  4.5  kg are  NOT  THE  MASS:  it is the weight
presented in very old units.


Kilograms were used as the unit of force  (of weight,  in particular)  before  1960,  when they were replaced by newtons.


So,  if on the moon surface the scales reads 4.5 kilograms,  it is  NOT  THE  MASS  of the sample:
it is its weight there.


The mass of the sample,  under given condition,  is  4.5%2A%289.8%2F1.8%29 = 24.5 kilogram  of mass.

Solved.