Same you, different pull
Every world pulls on you with a strength that depends on its mass and size. The Moon, a quarter of Earth’s width and about 1% of its mass, pulls with only a sixth of Earth’s force, which is why Apollo astronauts bounded across the surface. Mars pulls with about 38%. Jupiter, more than 300 times as massive as Earth but also much larger, pulls with about two and a half times Earth’s gravity at its cloud tops. Choose a world below and watch how high the same jump carries you.
How we calculate it
We multiply your Earth weight by each world’s surface gravity relative to Earth, from NASA’s planetary fact sheets. The jump height and hang time assume you leave the ground at the same speed as a 50 cm standing jump on Earth; both scale with one divided by the gravity. Force in newtons is your mass times the local gravity.
| World | Gravity (Earth = 1) | A 70 kg person reads | A 50 cm jump becomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moon | 0.165 | 11.6 kg | 3.0 m |
| Mars | 0.377 | 26.4 kg | 1.3 m |
| Venus | 0.905 | 63.4 kg | 55 cm |
| Jupiter | 2.528 | 177.0 kg | 20 cm |
| Pluto | 0.063 | 4.4 kg | 7.9 m |
Worked example. Someone who weighs 70 kg on Earth would see 11.6 kg on a scale on the Moon and 26.4 kg on Mars. A 50 cm jump would carry them 3.0 m high on the Moon, with about 3.9 seconds in the air, but only 20 cm at Jupiter’s cloud tops, where they would weigh 177 kg.
Living with less gravity
Low gravity is fun for a jump but hard on the body over time. Astronauts on the International Space Station lose bone and muscle mass and exercise for about two hours a day to limit it. How people would fare over months on the Moon or Mars is one of the open questions for future missions.
Questions people ask
Does my mass change on other planets?
No. Your mass, the amount of matter in you, is the same everywhere. What changes is your weight, the pull of gravity on that mass. A bathroom scale measures that pull, so it would read differently on the Moon or Mars.
Jupiter has no surface. What does its number mean?
For the gas giants we use the gravity at the level where the atmospheric pressure equals Earth’s at sea level, near the visible cloud tops. You could not stand there, but it is the standard comparison.
How do you work out the jump height?
If you push off the ground with the same speed, you rise higher where gravity is weaker. The height scales with one divided by the gravity, so a 50 cm jump on Earth becomes about 3 m on the Moon. Air resistance and the weight of a spacesuit are ignored.
Is my weight saved?
No. It stays on your screen.
Sources. NASA Planetary Fact Sheets (surface gravity relative to Earth). Calculations run in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.