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It appears that the perfectly satisfactory verb
"to weigh" is being displaced by an inappropriate verb
"to mass". Yes, we do know the difference between the
nouns "weight" and "mass", but that is not the issue here.
According to the Random House dictionary the verb "to
mass" means to gather into or dispose in a mass or masses, or
to assemble; whereas "to weigh" means to ascertain the
force that gravitation exerts upon (a person or thing) by use of
a balance, scale or other mechanical device.
The article by Roger Plumsky
(J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, 451-454) contains some interesting experiments, but
we were disturbed by the fact that students are told to mass
a test tube, crystals etc. Surely what chemistry students
do when they go to the balance is "to weigh" a sample or object!
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