Acceleration Due to Gravity and its variation: Practice Problem & Solution
Two types of balances, the beam balance and the spring balance are commonly used for measuring weight at shops. If we are at the moon, we can continue to use :
Solution Explained:
To solve this problem, we apply the core principles of Acceleration Due to Gravity and its variation. Understanding the underlying formula is key to arriving at the correct answer below:
On the Moon, the acceleration due to gravity is weaker (about \( \frac{1}{6} \) of that on Earth), affecting how a spring balance measures weight.
A spring balance relies on the gravitational force to measure weight based on the stretch of the spring, so it would give a lower reading on the Moon.
In contrast, a beam balance compares masses based on equilibrium, unaffected by gravity. Thus, it can be used without any change to measure weight accurately on the Moon.
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