About Mass

About mass
Everything is made out of matter. The amount of matter is called mass. Two bananas have twice the mass of one banana. The more mass a thing has, the more gravity pulls it and the more its gravity pulls other objects. We don't notice the pull from a banana because it is so much less than the pull from the Earth. If you stand on the ground and let go of a banana, gravity will pull it down towards the center of the Earth. It will hit the ground. If you could throw the banana hard enough at the right angle, it would go into orbit around the Earth. That is how rockets put astronauts into orbit. If you threw the banana really, REALLY hard in the right direction, it would fly away from Earth and never come back; but our arms are not that strong.
The force of gravity from anything is strongest very close to that thing, and weaker further from it. Scientists use weight to mean how hard gravity pulls us. Astronauts weigh less on the moon because it has less mass. It does not pull as hard. We actually weigh a tiny bit less on top of a tall mountain than we do in a lower place. This is because we are farther from most of the Earth.