For Mission 5 Student Researchers – A Challenge: Understanding Weightlessness – You Want Me to Take a Bathroom Scale Where?

I’ve heard a lot about this weightlessness stuff, with astronauts having a great time floating around. So I wanted to find out first hand what’s going on up there. Since they don’t have a spare seat on the next flight to low Earth orbit (at least not yet), I looked far and wide to find an amazingly tall mountain whose peak rises to the Space Station’s altitude in orbit so I could climb up and see for myself.

Station orbits the Earth about 260 miles (420 km) above sea level, and, by the way, crew and station are zipping along at 4.7 MILES PER SECOND (7.6 km/sec) relative to you sitting there at your computer. Bam. The Station just moved 4.7 miles. Really.

It took some Googling, but I found it! See my mountain in the picture? It accidentally got captured in an old Space Shuttle photo. Mt. Everest is only 5.5 miles (8.8 km) high. MY mountain (Jeff’s Peak) is 260 miles (420 km) high. I found it south of the Land of Make-Believe, down a not too well traveled path. Still, you’d think someone would have noticed it since it’s 47 times higher than Mt. Everest. Have you ever heard of Jeff’s peak? No? See, nobody knows about it!

So this week, I’m going to take the time to climb my mountain, and in my hand is my trusty bathroom scale, spring-loaded and guaranteed to be accurate at any altitude. I’ll camp out at the top, and I’ll wait until Space Station flies right by my mountain, so I can look in the windows and see if those lucky astronauts are weightless and floating around.

Here now the challenge—
As soon as I confirm they’re weightless in the Space Station, I’ll step on my bathroom scale to see my weight. If I weigh say 150 lbs (68 kg) when I’m standing on my scale in my bathroom at home, what will I weigh on top of my mountain?

Hint: You don’t actually need to calculate my weight. I’ll do that in the Solution to the Challenge. Your assignment—if you decide to accept it—is to guess what you think I’ll weigh and why. Hmmmm, lots of possibilities.

Post your guesses below, and remember to include why you think your guess is correct. Students of ALL ages are welcome to post a guess.

I’ll even give you until the end of the week to noodle on this in class, and at home with your parents, and then post your guesses. I’ll post the answer this Friday, September 20, 2013. See you then, and good luck noodling!

The solution to the challenge is posted HERE.

 


The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC, working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS)Carnegie Institution of Washington, NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium, and Subaru of America, Inc., are National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.

118 Responses to For Mission 5 Student Researchers – A Challenge: Understanding Weightlessness – You Want Me to Take a Bathroom Scale Where?

  1. Matteo Luevano September 16, 2013 at 6:06 pm #

    Nothing will happen [to change your weight]. When you are on a loopty loop roller coaster and you go down you feel really heavy like a million pounds and when you go out of your seat like on Tower of Terror you feel like you only weigh one pound. I still weigh 72 pounds all the time. Astronauts feel like less pounds but they have the same pounds all the time in space. Matteo, age 7 1/2

  2. Joey M September 17, 2013 at 4:42 pm #

    he will weigh about 100 pounds because he is very far away from the moon but still in space so he will weigh less that’s why I picked 100 lb.

  3. Anymous September 18, 2013 at 11:01 am #

    Well, it depends on how much you weigh at first. He says he was 150 pounds, so probably 100 pounds.. although he isn’t close to the moon, he would still be pretty high up.

  4. rebecca rochefort September 18, 2013 at 12:22 pm #

    you will weigh 50lbs beacause your farther away from the center of the earth so gravity will not pull you inas hard as if you were on top of the earth.

    • rebecca rochefort September 20, 2013 at 12:04 pm #

      im sorry i wanted to change my answer.i wanted to say that sence you would be in the atmosphere, you would be heaiver because wieght is how much gravity is pulling on you so you would be heavier sence gravity is pulling on you harder.(learned that in sience class earlier thx mrs.erban 🙂 6th demension rules!!!!!!!!!!!!)
      and acually your not in zero gravity it just feels like that because your falling in space(theres less gravity there then earth)so gravitys force is pulling you up so it feels like your floating in zero gravity(but your not theres no such thing as zero gravity.so you would feel like your in zero gravity.

      • rebecca rochefort September 20, 2013 at 12:07 pm #

        also you would weigh 160lbs;)

        • rebecca September 23, 2013 at 12:20 pm #

          i was so off the answer was 135 lbs

  5. Joia LaPlante September 18, 2013 at 3:59 pm #

    I think that he will weigh the same because he is on the same planet and the pull from earths gravity should be the same even though he is on a mountain. So I think he will stay 150 lb.

  6. michael B September 18, 2013 at 4:22 pm #

    he will weigh less abou 120 pounds . I picked this because there is a less gravitational pull

  7. Joshua Saucier September 18, 2013 at 5:14 pm #

    I don’t think that your weight will change .I think that you will weigh the same because I don’t think that your weight will change at all .

    • tabeh September 19, 2013 at 11:02 am #

      josha ur weight can change becse gravity pulls u down so if u were at a diffent plante with low gravity u would in fact be lighter

  8. Allison Carter September 18, 2013 at 5:14 pm #

    My guess is that he will weigh around 50lbs because I figured out that if he was on the moon he would weigh around 25lbs. The thing is he’s not on the moon, so what I did was I just doubled his weight. Because the closer you are to earth the more you weigh and the gravitational pull is stronger when you get closer!!

  9. Kaylin Cziria September 18, 2013 at 5:40 pm #

    When you reach the top of the mountain and weigh the astronauts then weigh yourself you will weigh 150 pounds still. This is because there is still the same amount of gravity there is on the surface of Earth on the mountain. Even though you might feel lighter.

  10. cooper paul September 18, 2013 at 5:58 pm #

    it has to be less than 150 like around 20-100 pounds

  11. montrel j September 18, 2013 at 7:43 pm #

    I think I will weigh more on that mountain because there is more gravity pulling me down to earth.

    • montrel j September 19, 2013 at 3:12 pm #

      I think u will weight 175 lb. because there is more gravity pulling you down

  12. Abigail Slaney September 18, 2013 at 8:10 pm #

    You’ll way the same (150 pounds.) You’re still close enough to the earth to have gravity pulling down on you, and the space shuttle will actually be falling without having the engine running. You’ll be falling in the space shuttle so you’ll be able to bounce around and feel weightless. It’s like when a bag of let’s say m&m’s falls but at a really slow rate, If you were an m&m you’ll be falling but going back and forth in the air inside the bag. Even though you’re a good distance from the moon and earth they have so much mass therefore their gravitational pull is really strong so they’ll be able to reach the shuttle and pull you with the same amount of force, In conclusion, I think you will way the same in the space shuttle as in your bathroom.

    • Courtney D. September 19, 2013 at 6:54 am #

      I agree with you that he will weigh the same, but I think he was on his mountain, not in a space shuttle. But I may be wrong, so don’t take it the wrong way. P.S. see you in math!

    • Josie Beckett September 19, 2013 at 7:17 am #

      i think you will weigh the same since you are still very close to the earth thus you are still getting the same amount gravitational pull. You will still weigh 150 pounds.

  13. katelyn c September 18, 2013 at 8:12 pm #

    he will weigh the same weight because he is not lose enough to space to make his weigh smaller

  14. Courtney D. September 18, 2013 at 8:49 pm #

    You would still weigh 150 pounds. You are still in earth’s atmosphere, so your weight doesn’t change. ( I think. sorry if I’m wrong Mrs. McDermot)

  15. Cole Schmitt September 19, 2013 at 10:10 am #

    I think you will weigh 5 pounds or less. Up where the the inter national space station orbits (the same distance from earth as the mountain you are on) you feel weight less. Your weight will change where ever you are dipending on how much gravity there is, and there is very little gravity there. That is what why the people on the iss floot. So you will weigh very little up there but not 0 because there is know such thing as 0 gravity

  16. Zach DeAlmo September 19, 2013 at 10:14 am #

    since he is still on earth, he will weight the same.

  17. tabeh September 19, 2013 at 11:00 am #

    about 16 pounds

    • rebecca rochefort September 19, 2013 at 12:20 pm #

      why do you think 16 pounds?

      • Joshua D September 19, 2013 at 5:54 pm #

        because she or he does

  18. joseph s September 19, 2013 at 11:02 am #

    I think he’l way about 100lbs because he s 150 lbs and he’l

    way 50 lbs less

  19. jack tacchi September 19, 2013 at 11:53 am #

    I think the guy will wiegh about 132lb. because he is still close the the center of gravity so he wont weigh that much less.

    • adamwoodland September 19, 2013 at 12:09 pm #

      i think the anser is 60or50 i will not FAILyou mrs.Erban

  20. connor eaton September 19, 2013 at 11:55 am #

    i think that he will weight 100 pounds so he will lose 50 pounds at the top

  21. noah c. September 19, 2013 at 11:57 am #

    i think he will weigh 120 lbs. He is still on earth and being pulled down by earth’s gravity but he is out of the atmosphere so he loses 30 lbs.

  22. Josey May September 19, 2013 at 11:59 am #

    I think hisweight will change but he would still weigh about 150lbs becase to go up to that elevation he would need a space suit, and those are very heavy so that is why I think he will only weigh about 150lbs

  23. mackenzie mayo September 19, 2013 at 12:11 pm #

    he wieght is 150 if he went on the top of the mountian the same level as the space staition he would weight about 140-130 pounds only 10 pound difference:)

  24. mia barrett September 19, 2013 at 12:14 pm #

    i think he will way same beacuse he is still in the earth apomspere

  25. mia barrett September 19, 2013 at 12:14 pm #

    i think he will way less beacuse he is still in the earth apomspere

  26. mia barrett September 19, 2013 at 12:15 pm #

    i think he will weight the same beacuase he is no that far away from earth

  27. will bradley September 19, 2013 at 12:18 pm #

    he would weigh 100lb because he is farther from the source of gravity sorry if this is wrong mrs Erban if this wrong

  28. Jarred September 19, 2013 at 12:21 pm #

    I think you would way about 50 pounds. I think this because the moon is about 200,000 miles away fom earth and you would about 25 pounds on the moon . So I divied the 200 miles of the moution by the 200,000 miles of the moon and got 1,000 miles.Then I divid the 25 pounds by 1,000 and got about 50 pounds. Sory if this is complety wrong mrs.Urban.

    • Joshua D September 19, 2013 at 5:53 pm #

      she hopes that to everyone Jared don’t worry

  29. shelby leonard September 19, 2013 at 12:22 pm #

    he would wight 120 pounds, becouse there would be a less gravitation pull to the earth.

  30. EthanBrayall-B. September 19, 2013 at 12:26 pm #

    You will weigh more because their is more mass on earth with the mountain. Not so much but more. So my guess is that you will weigh 170

  31. Joseph Vanacore September 19, 2013 at 12:27 pm #

    My guess would be 65 lbs. This is my guess because, technically your still in the range of Earth’s gravity, its just greatly affected by your height. The core of the earth is TRYING to pull you down, but its harder. Like you trying to pull an airplane out of the sky. Not so easy… (Sixth Dimension)

  32. Tanner Barr September 19, 2013 at 12:27 pm #

    i think he will weight about 100 pounds because he is not effected by earths gravity as much because he is almost out of earths atmosphere

  33. Tanner Barr September 19, 2013 at 12:28 pm #

    I WILL NOT FAIL YOU MRS.ERBAN

    • Zach DeAlmo September 19, 2013 at 3:17 pm #

      Nice one, Tanner. DIDO!!!!!! ;P

  34. Jake Pion September 19, 2013 at 12:33 pm #

    Hi Mrs.Erban! But, anyways if he is 150 lbs, I’m thinking that if he is on “his” mountain, which is still in our atmosphere his weight would change a little. What I was thinking was if he is still in our atmosphere, (which he is) he would still have a little gravity pulling on him. So I’m thinking that if he weighs 150 lbs, he would start to weigh at least maybe 130 lbs – 105 lbs. BA-BAM!!!!! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!

    • Joshua D September 19, 2013 at 5:46 pm #

      nice one Jake pion

  35. Cassidy Becker September 19, 2013 at 2:48 pm #

    i think he will weigh 135lbs. because he is still on earth but he is almost in outer space and there is some gravity pulling on him.I WILL NOT FAIL YOU MRS.ERBAN!!!

  36. montrel j September 19, 2013 at 3:11 pm #

    I think u will weight 175 lb. because there is more gravity pulling you down

  37. Brendan Bellemore September 19, 2013 at 3:24 pm #

    HI!!! MRS. MCDERMOT

    if he weighs 150 pounds and is on top of a mountain the chances are the size of the mountain is not to big but about medium size. Your weight would defiantly be decreased because you are still in the earths atmosphere but since you are so high it is more difficult for the core to pull you down to the the solid ground. My guess he would weigh about 110-90 pounds.

    YOU ARE THE BEST SCIENCE TEACHER MRS.DERMOT (Discovery)

  38. Niti Kamani September 19, 2013 at 3:26 pm #

    i think he would weigh about 100 pounds because he is being less affected by gravity since he is so high up in the air.(remember he said his montain was 260 miles above sea level) That is like 62 times higher than mt. everst! the pull of gravity must be less up there than down here. I think he will weigh 100 pounds on his mountain

  39. Jack Perriello September 19, 2013 at 3:34 pm #

    My prediction is that he will weigh 150 lbs because the Earth’s gravity is still weighing him down. This is true because he is still in Earth’s atmosphere, and the mountain is still connected to earth. If the mountain was higher and he was out of earth’s atmosphere he would weigh less.

    • Jack Perriello September 19, 2013 at 3:39 pm #

      YOU ARE THE BEST SCIENCE TEACHER MRS MCDERMOT GO DISCOVERY

  40. Madison F. September 19, 2013 at 3:36 pm #

    My hypothesis is that he would weigh 150 pounds. I estimated this because he is not out of Earths orbit. If he was out of the orbit I think his weight would change to the closest gravitational pull. ( Hi Mrs.McDermott I love you and will try not to let you down) 🙂

    • Madison Frechette September 19, 2013 at 3:39 pm #

      He might even weigh more because there is more force pushing me down towards the earth.

  41. Danny Vicaio September 19, 2013 at 4:21 pm #

    At first I though that your weight will be the same, because you’re on the same gravitational pull of the Earth.
    But then I realized that he was above the earth. So he would Probaly weigh about 100-110 pounds.

    Also, HI MRS.MCDERMOTT(sorry if I spelt it wrong)
    You’re awesome! 😀

  42. Morgan Gayton September 19, 2013 at 4:27 pm #

    I think that his weight will probably change a little like 100-135 pounds because he is still on Earth but he is still higher so gravity is still pulling on him a little. YAAAAAAAAAAAA MRS. ERBAN ROCKS. :(:(:

  43. Jolie Bellemore September 19, 2013 at 4:44 pm #

    My thought is because he’s standing on A mountain there must be some gravity that is pulling on him to the earth but, if he was standing on the moon He would way about 25 pounds in that case because he’s not he’s not on the moon he is going to weigh more. so I subtracted how much he would weight on the moon by how much he would weigh on earth and got an answer of 125 pounds.

  44. Maddy S September 19, 2013 at 5:03 pm #

    I think the man will be about 130 pounds because he is still on the earth, but not in space.I hope this is correct Mrs.Erban.DO NOT WORRY MRS.ERBAN,MADDY TO THE RESCUE IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

  45. Melissa McDermott September 19, 2013 at 5:16 pm #

    My prediction is you will stay the same because your still on Earth so the gravitational pull will be the same on the mountain you will still weigh 150 pounds.

    I hope this is correct

  46. Shea Mulhern September 19, 2013 at 5:43 pm #

    On the mountain You would weigh 133.5 because that is the weight of a 150 pound man on the ISS at they are at the same height so the weight would be the same.

  47. Joshua D September 19, 2013 at 5:49 pm #

    I think he would weigh about 75-100 pounds because there is less gravity because, the farther away from earth you are the you would weigh less. I HOPE WONT FAIL YOU MRS.ERBAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

  48. maddie h. September 19, 2013 at 6:26 pm #

    I think that they will still weigh the same. Youre still close enough to have a gravitational pull. You are also still in the earths atmosphere so your weight wont jake

  49. Eric Kugler September 19, 2013 at 6:26 pm #

    I think he will weigh 143 lbs as the gravitational pull will be weaker. GO TEAM DISCOVERY!

  50. maddie h. September 19, 2013 at 6:28 pm #

    change**

    another reason is that there isnt a difference of the atmosphere and the top of the mountain

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.