From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station

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written by David Stern

Available Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish

This unique three-part lesson helps students understand that mass is an inherent property of matter, while weight depends on gravity. Using simple and inexpensive objects, students make mass measurements without the use of gravity, similar to the measurements made aboard the Skylab space mission. The author provides explicit directions for experimental set-up, construction of the inertial balance, background information for teachers, and links to related digital resources.

This item part of an extensive web site, "From Stargazers to Starships", that uses the topics of space exploration and space science to introduce topics in physics and astronomy. Translations in French,
Italian and Spanish are available.

http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Newton's First Law = Measuring Inertia General Physics - Measurement/Units	- High School - Lower Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Activity = Lesson/Lesson Plan

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Physical Science - Physics First - Conceptual Physics - Algebra-based Physics - AP Physics	- Lesson Plan - Activity - Laboratory - New teachers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Intended Users:: Educator
Learner
Format:: text/html
Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2005 David Stern
Keywords:: Law of Inertia, Newton's First Law, inertia, mass, measurement, skylab
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created March 22, 2008 by Alea Smith
Record Updated:: May 29, 2011 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: March 24, 2006

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4D. The Structure of Matter

6-8: 4D/M2. Equal volumes of different materials usually have different masses.
6-8: 4D/M7b. The idea of atoms explains the conservation of matter: If the number of atoms stays the same no matter how the same atoms are rearranged, then their total mass stays the same.
6-8: 4D/M10. A substance has characteristic properties such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the substance and can be used to identify it.

12. Habits of Mind

12B. Computation and Estimation

3-5: 12B/E3. Judge whether measurements and computations of quantities such as length, weight, or time are reasonable by comparing them to familiar values.
6-8: 12B/M7b. Convert quantities expressed in one unit of measurement into another unit of measurement when necessary to solve a real-world problem.

This resource is part of a Physics Front Topical Unit.

Topic: Dynamics: Forces and Motion
Unit Title: Newton's First Law & Inertia

This unique lesson helps students understand that inertia is an inherent property of matter, while weight depends on gravity. Using simple and inexpensive objects, students make mass measurements without the use of gravity, similar to the measurements made aboard the Skylab space mission.

Link to Unit:

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=6678">Stern, David. From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station. March 24, 2006.</a>

AIP Format

D. Stern, (2005), WWW Document, (http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm).

AJP/PRST-PER

D. Stern, From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station (2005), <http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm>.

APA Format

Stern, D. (2006, March 24). From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station. Retrieved December 4, 2024, from http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm

Chicago Format

Stern, David. From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station. March 24, 2006. http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm (accessed 4 December 2024).

MLA Format

Stern, David. From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station. 2005. 24 Mar. 2006. 4 Dec. 2024 <http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "David Stern", Title = {From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {4 December 2024}, Month = {March 24, 2006}, Year = {2005} }

Refer Export Format

%A David Stern %T From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station %D March 24, 2006 %U http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Stern, David %D March 24, 2006 %T From Stargazers to Starships: Mass - Measuring Mass on a Space Station %V 2024 %N 4 December 2024 %8 March 24, 2006 %9 text/html %U http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Smass.htm

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