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I think you are making it too hard, Rick. Leigh asked for an operational
definition. What I offered was such a way of defining weight. I don't
care to know how the bathroom scale works, nor do I think that is
important. The number I get when I stand on it is my weight.
I take the scale with me in the shuttle and "stand" on it and get zero.
Therefore, I'm weightless.
The force of gravity is acting on me in both situations, but I choose to
not talk about the force of gravity on me as my weight in my beginning
classes. Thus I avoid many problems. I have written before that in the
equation F=mg that I refer to the g as being the gravitational field and
introduce this concept early. F=qE then follows naturatlly.