What's the difference between inertial and gravitational mass?

Like charges repel and different charges attract, i.e. charges feel an electromagnetic (EM) force. Electrons (fundamental particles that 'orbit' around the nuclei of atoms) carry a negative charge of -1.610^-19 Coulombs (the unit of charge). This number, or why it's negative doesn't really matter. What does matter is that if you try to bring two electrons together, they will both feel a repulsive force. But if you, somehow, switched the charge of one electron (so that is becomes positive), the two electrons will now attract.
So how does this relate to gravity? Well, electrons have a mass, and they also have electric charge. But their mass (9.10938356 × 10^-31 kg) is not the same as their charge (-1.6
10^-19 C), and there really isn't any reason at all why these two numbers should be equal. Now think about gravity, this is also a force like the electromagnetic force. Just like charge was responsible for creating the EM force, gravitational charge is responsible for gravitational force - we call this is gravitational mass (but really think of it as charge). And again there is no reason why this gravitational mass should be equal to the objects inertial mass (rest mass is just a measure of how much stuff is in something). But it is. This is known as Einstein's Weak Equivalence principle, and without it, General Relativity would come tumbling down like a house of cards.

YB
Answered by Yassine B. Physics tutor

1880 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

A body of mass 2kg is travelling in a straight line along the x-axis. It collides with a second body of mass 3kg which is moving at -2m/s. The two bodies move off together at 3m/s. What is the initial velocity of the first body?


A student is measuring the acceleration due to gravity, g. They drop a piece of card from rest, from a vertical height of 0.75m above a light gate. The light gate measures the card's speed as it passes to be 3.84 m/s. Calculate an estimate for g.


What is the maximum frequency photon of one of the photons produced when a electron and positron annihilate each other?


What height do geostationary satellites orbit above the Earths surface?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences