What do you weigh? Did you know that weight is a force? There is a force - called gravity - pulling you down to the Earth.

Everything has a force of gravity. But this force is bigger, the bigger the object. And it is bigger the closer you are to the object. Since the Earth is so big - and so close - this is the gravity force that pulls on you hardest. It is this force that gives an object weight.

You can measure this and other forces with a special spring balance called a forcemeter. Forcemeters measure the force in newtons (N). These units are named after the scientist Sir Isaac Newton.