Tom Snyder Productions

People are lining up to buy the new Anti-Gravity Weight Loss Potion. Seems too good to be true.

Sam Bookman, who owns a local fitness center, is caught doing something to the potion.

The potion's inventor, Clara Swindell, claims that Sam sabotaged the potion. She sues Sam for a million dollars for ruining her potion.

In court, Clara's attorney, Doug Savage, demonstrates that where there's less gravity, like on the Moon, we weigh less.

Expert witness Julie Bean tries to show that if something has more mass (you know, "stuff"), it has more gravity.

OK, so Earth has gravity. And the Moon has even less gravity. But does everthing -- even a tiny pencil -- have gravity? And can you take gravity away from an object to make it weigh less?

Science Court challenge question:

If you went to Mars, would you weigh more, less, or the same as you do here on Earth?

Before you answer... try these simple experiments.

Weigh In

What do you weigh on other planets?

You'll Need

• pencil and paper

What to Do

1. Use a pencil and paper to create a chart like the one below.
2. Record your mass in each space in the "mass" column. Your mass is equal to your weight on Earth.
3. Next, write down the gravity for each location in the proper column. Earth is 1, and outer space, where there is no gravity, is 0. Fill in the rest of the numbers.
4. Finally, multiply your mass times the gravity in each row to figure out your weight at each location.

Ask
Professor
Parsons

Click Professor Parsons for an explanation of gravity, weight, and mass.

Location

Earth

Outer space

Earth's moon

Venus

Mars

Mercury

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto