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The term for the force created when a mass is acted upon by gravity is weight. Weight is defined as the gravitational force exerted on an object due to its mass. It is calculated using the formula: Weight = mass × gravitational acceleration. In this context, gravitational acceleration is approximately 9.81 meters per second squared on the surface of the Earth.

Understanding this concept is crucial because it distinguishes weight from other related terms. For instance, inertia refers to an object's resistance to changes in its state of motion, and volume measures the amount of space an object occupies. Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object and does not change regardless of the object's location in a gravitational field. However, weight is dependent on both the mass of the object and the strength of the gravitational field acting upon it.