Re: Forces

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@sfu.ca>]

> Certainly, but that doesn't make it any less confusing for students.  The
> 'attractive potential' terminology spills over into chemistry where they
> really are talking about Electrical Potential without the sophistication of
> 4-vector spacetime.  Having just been working on this topic with our
> Chemistry majors I was sensitive to this 'seemingly' inconsistent usage.

....and thermodynamics, where the three (but curiously not four)
thermodynamic potentials lurk, all of them bearing the dimensions
of energy rather than energy per unit _.

Wishing that the terms "work" and "force" and "potential" would
not be used in other contexts, solely for reasons of pedagogy,
will not bring about change. You must either become a violent
revolutionary (burn books, etc.) or accept the world as it is.
Fortunately I do not elect to side with the unabomber in this
matter. I suggest you reach a similar compromise with your
principles.

Leigh