Everywhere you look, everything is made up of matter. Mass is a fundamental property that helps scientists understand how the world works.

A balance is a key instrument for measuring mass. You can find out more about a balance from our handy teaching wiki.

In science

Mass is an important measurement in physics, describing how much matter is contained within an object. It also determines an object’s inertia — its resistance to acceleration — and how strong it is at attracting other objects to it.

Unlike weight, which depends on the force of gravity, an object’s mass is constant and independent of its shape. For example, a golf ball and a ping-pong ball of the same size have different masses because a golf ball has more matter than a ping-pong ball.

People have been measuring mass since ancient times using simple tools like beam balances and spring scales. In 1875, scientists at the International Metric Convention created the prototype kilogram to standardize units of mass across countries. Today, advanced technology makes mass measurements possible with a high level of accuracy. For example, NIST’s immersed balance technique allows us to accurately measure the precise mass of precision stainless steel mass standards to an uncertainty of 0.004 ppm.

In industry

In the world of industry and commerce, mass measurements are essential for many activities such as weighing goods for sale or measuring the forces used to test materials or build bridges, buildings, airplanes and medical prosthetics. Mass measurement technologies are also utilized in a variety of technology applications such as analytical chemistry using techniques like mass spectrometry.

In industrial settings, a balance is typically the primary mass-measurement tool for most users. For these users, a key requirement is that the balance remain stable and reproducible over time. Statistical process control procedures are incorporated into mass calibrations to monitor stability and drift as well as any abrupt changes that could indicate damage.

NIST maintains a comprehensive program for monitoring the performance of its mass standards through a procedure known as T-test statistics and by maintaining control charts for each check standard. These charts allow NIST to identify and react to any instability in the system and to communicate to customers a computed accepted value for the measured mass of the standard at each time point in the calibration cycle.

In agriculture

In agriculture, measuring units help convey value to agricultural stakeholders and facilitate decision making in the field. Agricultural measuring instruments include measuring tapes, weighting scales, and meter rules. Agricultural measurement is also necessary to prevent cheating or sharp practices and ensure that agricultural stakeholders are provided with accurate information about the quality of their products.

Mass measurement is important in agriculture because it helps farmers determine the amount of nutrients needed to grow crops. Moreover, it allows farmers to calculate the amount of crop yields per land area. In addition, mass measurements can identify the chemical composition of soil and optimize nutrient application.

In the case of food, mass measurements are vital for reducing food waste (FLW). FLW is a major concern in the food industry and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 calls for halving food losses and waste by 2025. However, studies that quantify FLW at primary production steps using interviews instead of applied weighing methodology may underestimate the true FLW problem.

In research

Since ancient times, people have used balances and scales to perform mass measurements. The invention of the metric system in the 17th century standardized units of mass and made it easier for people to trade goods worldwide.

Today, scientists use mass measurement to investigate the properties of materials and molecules. Advanced technologies like mass spectrometry enable researchers to analyze complex mixtures of compounds with unprecedented accuracy and precision.

A common misconception is that mass and weight are the same thing, but they’re not. An object’s weight depends on gravity, while its mass is the amount of matter it contains. A golf ball has more matter than a ping-pong ball, so it has more mass, even though they are the same size. The same is true for larger objects, such as elephants, which have more matter than mice. The same is not true for smaller objects, such as atoms, which have the same mass everywhere. This is why it is important to have accurate and reliable standards for measuring mass.