Student Name: _________________________
Class Period: ________________
Gizmos Exploration Guide
Calculating Weights on the Moon
Gravity affects all objects the same way. This means that the ratio of any object's weight on the Earth to
its weight on the Moon will always be the same. If you know the weight of an object on the Earth and
the Moon, you can use a proportion to find your weight on the Moon as well.
1. Before you begin, choose the unit of weight you would like to use from the two options at lower
right. Pounds are commonly used in the United States, while Newtons are the SI weight unit
used worldwide. There are 4.45 Newtons in one pound.
2. Enter your Earth weight into the box on the left side of the Gizmo™ and hit Enter on your
keyboard. Your weight will be displayed in the Person weight on Earth space in the proportion
at the bottom of the Gizmo.
3. Drag the watermelon onto the scale on Earth. Its Earth weight will be displayed in the
proportion in the Object weight on Earth location. Then drag the watermelon onto the first
scale on the Moon. (Be sure Moon is selected in the dropdown menu.) The watermelon's Moon
weight will be displayed in the proportion in the Object weight on Moon location.
1. How much does the watermelon weigh on Earth?
2. How much does it weigh on the Moon?
4. Since you have three of the four spaces in the proportion filled out, you can find the fourth
value (your weight on the Moon) by solving the proportion. Solve for the unknown value in the
proportion on paper. To check your answer, click Beam Away.
1. How much do you weigh on Earth? How much would you weigh on the Moon?
2. What is the ratio of your Earth weight to your Moon weight? (Round to the nearest
tenth.)
3. What is the ratio of the watermelon's Earth weight to its Moon weight?
4. How does your ratio compare to the watermelon's ratio?
5. The stronger the force of gravity, the more you will weigh. Which has a stronger
gravitational force, the Earth or the Moon? Explain.
5. Beam yourself back to Earth by clicking Beam Home. Repeat the process with the baseball and
the flower to calculate your weight on the Moon.
1. What is the ratio of the Earth weight of the baseball to its Moon weight?
2. What is the Earth weight to Moon weight ratio for the flower?
3. What do you think the ratio of the Earth weight to the Moon weight of a parakeet would
be? Of a skyscraper? Explain.
6. When you divide the Earth weight of any object by its Moon weight , the quotient is always the
same, regardless of what the object is. (Earth weight is about 6 times the Moon weight of an
object. Or, Moon weight is about one–sixth of Earth weight.) This means that Earth weight and
Moon weight are proportional. Use what you have learned to answer these questions:
1. If an object weighs 30 pounds on Earth, how much would it weigh on the Moon?
2. If an object weighs 30 pounds on the Moon, how much would it weigh on Earth?
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Student Name: _________________________
Class Period: ________________
Calculating Weights on Other Planets
Because gravity works the same way on other planets as it does on the Earth and Moon, the weights of
objects on other planets are also proportional.
1. Beam yourself back to Earth if necessary.
2. Choose the planet Venus from the dropdown menu under the Moon scene, and do the weighing
experiments the same way as they were described earlier.
1. How much would you weigh on Venus?
2. What is the ratio of your Earth weight to your Venus weight?
3. Is the gravity on Venus stronger or weaker than that on Earth? Is it stronger or weaker
than the gravity on the Moon? Explain your answers.
3. Run the weight experiment for all the planets in the dropdown menu.
1. Which planet has the strongest gravity? Explain your answer.
2. Which planet has the weakest gravity? Explain.
© 2012 ExploreLearning. All rights reserved. Gizmo and Gizmos are trademarks of ExploreLearning. Please carefully review the
Terms & Conditions of Use (7) and our Privacy Policy (8) before using this site. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to
be bound by the Terms & Conditions of Use.