Re: F=ma

["Dewey Dykstra, Jr." <dykstrad@EMAIL.BOISESTATE.EDU>]

> > There two
> > problems:  (1) It is almost impossible (if not actually) to
> > measure *all*
> > the forces without assuming the answer to the question of
> > whether or not
> > the sum of the forces is, first.  (2) We don't actually
> > measure force.  We
> > measure observable effects, experiences for which force is
> > the explanation.
> > Apparently "Nature" can't or won't tell us "the answer," so we have to
> > decide based on other criteria.  Perhaps if we thought of
> > force not as a
> > causal agent, but an explanatory entity...
>
> I can't resist pointing out that Dewey's post supports a position and
> provocative statement I have made in the past.  Perhaps, the support is not
> unequivocal, however.
>
> "Force meters (gauges, what-have-you) work by measuring accelerations".
>
> Dewey, where were you when I needed defenders?  :-))
>
> Joel
:^)  Sorry Joel.  Been distracted at times.  I'm afraid we've all felt "out
on a limb" at times, myself included.  On the points above, I feel pretty
unequivocal at the moment.  There are "force" measurements which work via a
measurement of a deformation of an object.

Dewey


(Please note the e-mail address change, valid as of 8/7/99.)
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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr.                 Phone: (208)426-3105
Professor of Physics                  Dept:  (208)426-3775
Department of Physics/MCF421/418      Fax: (208)426-4330
Boise State University            dykstrad@email.boisestate.edu
1910 University Drive                 Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570                  novice piper: GHB, Uilleann

"Physical concepts are the free creations of the human mind and
are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external
world."--A. Einstein in The Evolution of Physics with L. Infeld,
1938.
"Every [person's] world picture is and always remains a construct
of [her or his] mind and cannot be proved to have any other existence."
--E. Schrodinger in Mind and Matter, 1958.
"Don't mistake your watermelon for the universe."  --K. Amdahl in
There Are No Electrons, 1991.
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