Raymond Sirois wrote:
"A 60-pound object on earth will have a weight of 10 pounds on the
moon."

That`s about right. Gravitational force on the moon is about 0.16 times
that on earth.

If a mass of 60 pounds is suspended from a weight scale on earth, the
force on the scale registers 60 pounds. As Cecil noted, gravitational
force is a vector. Its direction is toward the center of the mass that
exerts the attraction.

A spring scale free to align itself will measure 60 pounds tension no
matter where the 60-pound pul on it comes from. On the moon the object
with a 60-pound attraction to the earth only exerts a 9.6-pound pull on
the spring scale. The object did not change. The spring scale did not
change. The mass of the moon is much smaller than that of the earth, so
its attraction is proportionally less.

A weight balance scale would behave differently from the spring balance
scale. The balance weights and positions would be almost unaffected by
the change in gravitaional force because the forces on both scale and
balance weights change in the same proportion.

A weight balance scale would usually employ a balancing weight much
smaller than 60 pounds to balance a weight of 60 pounds. The balance is
struck with a smaller weight through leverage..It`s a teeter-totter
with the measured quantity getting the short end of the stick. Balance
remains at the same spot regardless of the gravitational pull on both
ends of the balance beam. It`s the torques which balance. When we change
the gravitational force, we multiply both sides of the balance equation
by the same factor.

The spring balance is calibrated for the force of gravity on a mass
residing near the earth`s surface.

The weight balance is calibrated for the same gravitational attraction
on earth.

On the moon the spring scale indicates about 10 pounds for an earth
weight of 60 pounds. On the moon, the weight balance scale still
indicates 60 pounds, though the gravitational pull is only about 10
pounds.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI