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The pound is a unit of mass, same as the kg (it's defined as exactly 0.45359237kg). Just as 900kg is 900kg everywhere, 2000lb is 2000lb everywhere. The colloquial weight is literally a force, and its imperial unit is thus the pound-force.


This is incorrect. The pound is a unit of force, similar to a Newton. The pound-mass(notated lb-m) is similar to the kg. The conversation you gave above is based on Earth gravity for weight.


> This is incorrect. The pound is a unit of force, similar to a Newton. The pound-mass(notated lb-m) is similar to the kg.

That's the pound-force (lbf).

Pound and pound-mass are aliases. Indeed the official facts sheet defines the mass of the rover in kg and pounds.

> The conversation you gave above is based on Earth gravity for weight.

My comment is based on mass being an intrinsic property of matter, gravity does not enter the equation.


There are about a dozen different units that are all called "pounds," and you have to rely on context to know which is meant. When I took physics in high school, pounds were always force (abbreviated lbf) and we used slugs for mass ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slug_(mass) )




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