How do you weigh things in space?

From the creator

How do astronauts measure the weight of small items on the International Space Station, which is a microgravity environment, and scales don't work without gravity? Although astronauts can't measure weight without gravity, they can measure mass. According to Newton’s second law, force, acceleration and mass are all related to one another. In space, astronauts use the Mass Measurement Device (MMD), which applies a known acceleration to the sample and measures the resulting force. The MMD can measure between 1-100 grams and has an accuracy of .1 grams. There are also other mass measurement devices on the ISS like the Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device (SLAMMD), which can measure the mass of an astronaut.

Published 2019-12-03 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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