mass

Everyday

1. Mass is the amount of matter in an object, measured in grams and kilograms. tree →
2. A mass is a large amount or lump of something without a clear shape. tree →
3. A mass of people or things is a large crowd or number. tree →
4. Masses of something (informal) means lots of it. tree →
5. Mass is the main service in the Catholic church. tree →
6. Mass (adjective) means involving very many people, like mass transport. tree →

In the lessons

In science and maths, mass is measured with scales or a balance: 1 kilogram = 1000 grams. Mass stays the same everywhere, but weight (the pull of gravity) changes: on the Moon you weigh less but your mass is the same. In geography, a land mass is a large area of land. Phrases: mass of, masses of, land mass, the masses (ordinary people), go to Mass, mass production.

Examples

• The mass of the apple is 150 grams. tree →
• Use the balance to find the mass of the stone. tree →
• A mass of clouds covered the sky. tree →
• There were masses of people at the concert. tree →
• Australia is a huge land mass. tree →
• Grandma goes to Mass on Sunday. tree →
• Factories make toys by mass production. tree →
• They could not pull their feet out of the sticky mass. tree →

Note

In maths, mass units: grams (g), kilograms (kg), tonnes (t); 1 kg = 1000 g; 1 tonne = 1000 kg. Everyday people say "weight" when they mean mass; in science they differ (weight is a force, in newtons). Capital M for the church service.

In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: The word describes the "formless mass" that Greek and Roman writers imagined before the world. Jewish tradition compares it to the "tohu vavohu," the emptiness and void of Genesis 1:2. In Job it means a lump, as when dust runs together into a hard mass of clods. In the primary lessons: In science and maths, mass is measured with scales or a balance: 1 kilogram = 1000 grams. Mass stays the same everywhere, but weight (the pull of gravity) changes: on the Moon you weigh less but your mass is the same. In geography, a land mass is a large area of land. Phrases: mass of, masses of, land mass, the masses (ordinary people), go to Mass, mass production.

Examples

• Later cosmogonists, such as Ovid, represent it as the confused, shapless mass, out of which the universe was formed into a cosmos, or harmonious order. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
• When the dust runneth into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together? (Writings JOB.38.38, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

In maths, mass units: grams (g), kilograms (kg), tonnes (t); 1 kg = 1000 g; 1 tonne = 1000 kg. Everyday people say "weight" when they mean mass; in science they differ (weight is a force, in newtons). Capital M for the church service.