Name: Weight of an Object on Moon
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 7 min 1 s
Description: In many space videos, astronauts are seen hopping on the surface of the moon due to their reduced weights. Watch the video to learn how to find weight on the...

Question

How does the weight of a body change, if it is initially weighed at Delhi, and then taken to the equator?

Accepted Answer

We know that the earth attracts every object with a certain force which depends on the mass ( $m$ ) of the object and the acceleration due to the gravity ( $g$ ). The weight of an object is the force with which it is attracted towards the earth. So the weight can be expressed as,

$W = m g . . . . . . (1)$

From the above equation, it is clear that the weight of a body depends on its mass and the acceleration due to gravity. Since mass of the body is always constant, we can say that the weight of the body depends on the acceleration due to gravity which in turn depends on the radius of the earth.

We know that due to flattening of Earth at the poles, radius of the earth is minimum at poles and hence the value of $g$ will be maximum at poles. Also, the value of $g$ goes on decreasing as we move from the poles to the equator, and as a result the weight of a body will be less at the equator than at Delhi, since Delhi is situated towards the north of the equator.

How does the weight of a body change, if it is initially weighed at Delhi, and then taken to the equator?

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