Question

The weight of an object is:
A) is the quantity of the matter it contains
B) refers to its inertia
C) is the same as its mass but is expressed in different units
D) is the force with which it is attracted towards the earth

Answer 1

Hint : The weight of an object is the product of the mass of the object and the gravitational acceleration of the body due to the gravitational force of Earth. It can also be explained as the force with which the earth pulls a mass towards itself.

Complete step by step answer
The weight of a body is defined as the product of the mass of the body and the gravitational acceleration experienced by the object towards the Earth.
In option (A), the quantity of matter contained by the object only gives us the mass of the object it contains which is not equal to its weight so option (A) is incorrect
In option (B), the inertia of a body is an indirect measure of its mass so option (B) is also incorrect
In option (C), the mass of a body has different units than its weight since the weight of an object is the product of the mass of the object and the gravitational acceleration of the body due to the gravitational force of Earth so option (C) is incorrect.
In option (D), as we know that the weight of an object is the product of the mass and the gravitational acceleration, this corresponds to the force exerted by the mass on the surface of the Earth so option (D) is correct.

Note
It is a common misconception that the weight and mass of a body are interchangeable quantities however that is not true as the weight of a body is a force that it exerts on a surface due to gravity while the mass of a body is a fundamental quantity that defines the inertia of a body i.e. its tendency to move when a force is applied to it.