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Re: "acceleration due to gravity"



Hi all-

Regarding Michael Edmiston's (possibly rhetorical?) question:

... Isn't a main conclusion of general relativity
that there is an equivalence of the concepts of gravity and acceleration,
similar to a main conclusion of special relativity that there is an
equivalence of the concepts of energy and mass?

So, if the equivalence of energy and mass allow us to mix energy and mass
units and terminology, shouldn't the equivalence of gravity and acceleration
allow us to mix these units and terminology?

The language is troublesome. The principal of equivalence, a
foundation stone (not a "conclusion") of general relativity is that
the gravitational field at a point ("locally") may be replaced by an
acceleration field at the same point.
Energy and mass units may be interchanged when doing calculations
where mass-energy is conserved. I know of no equivalent calculations
involving gravity and acceleration. On the other hand, a gravitational
field is normally expressed in acceleration units.
I find the question obscure.
Regards,
Jack
--
While [Jane] Austen's majestic use of language is surely diminished in its
translation to English, it is hoped that the following translation conveys
at least a sense of her exquisite command of her native tongue.
Greg Nagan from "Sense and Sensibility" in
<The 5-MINUTE ILIAD and Other Classics>