“Weight” and “Mass”

Abstract

THE correspondence which has recently appeared in NATURE on this subject has great interest for those engaged in teaching Physics. I confess I regretted to learn that “gravity” had been diverted from its long recognised meaning in science—that pointed out by Mr. Stoney—at Glasgow, to be employed for one of the meanings of the word “weight.” The symbol “g” is “gravity” represented by its initial letter, so that if the meaning of the word be changed, consistency would require that the symbol should be altered. I find, practically, no difficulty in restricting the word “weight” to the sense of force, insisting on the use of the phrases “mass of so many pounds, ounces, or grammes,” and “force equal to the weight of a mass of so many pounds, grammes,” &c.; for which, after sometime, I allow the use of the phrase, “the weight of so many pounds.”