Re: What Flows?

[John Mallinckrodt <ajmallinckro@CSUPomona.Edu>]

On Fri, 13 Sep 1996, Dewey Dykstra, Jr. wrote:

> I still have not heard how the dot product of a force and a displacement
> can have the _same_ dimensions as the cross product of the two.  We
> differentiate between the multiplicative product and the quotient, why not
> the dot and cross products?

Dewey,

Despite my earlier argument that torque and energy SHOULD not have the
same dimensions, it is simply a fact that they do given the convention
that angular displacements are dimensionless.  The dimensions of both are
M L^2/T^2.  Perhaps you are thinking of some other meaning for the word
"dimensions"?

John
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