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Re: FREEFALL OR NOT



On Thu, 14 Oct 1999, Richard Tarara wrote:

... My criteria for free-fall is that there be only ONE force acting on
the falling object, the gravitational attraction of a MAJOR attractor
(like the earth).

Rick,

An object near a Lagrange point, for instance, would not be in freefall
under this definition. My criterion is simpler, more general, and, I
think you will agree, more correct: For an object to be in freefall it
should be subject to no nongravitational forces.

John Mallinckrodt mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm