Podcasts · Bunsen Bites — small bites, big discoveries

Your Bathroom Scale Is Lying (Physics Level 8)

25 Oct 2026 · 6:36 · S3 E1

We're going to work out what a scale actually feels when you stand on it, and what number it should really show. Then we'll take that scale somewhere else and watch the number change, even though you haven't changed at all.

The listener works out their own real weight. Take your kilograms and times by 10: forty kilos means 400 newtons. Then comes the twist. The scale was only ever guessing your kilograms by assuming it was on Earth. On the Moon it would be wrong, but your newtons would be the honest reading.

Sources:

• https://www.ssc.education.ed.ac.uk/BSL/physics/gravitationald.html

Source: Episode 1 - Physics Level 8, Forces and Fields (1/17) Style: Exam prep Length: 950 words, 6 min target Generated: 2026-10-25

Links in the notes 1

• https://www.ssc.education.ed.ac.uk/BSL/physics/gravitationald.html