F=ma: law or theory?

[Robert Cohen <Robert.Cohen@PO-BOX.ESU.EDU>]

On Tuesday, October 16, 2001 12:58 PM, John S. Denker wrote:

> [snip]
> It is _not_ true that F is defined in terms of ma.  F=ma is
> _not_ an axiom nor
> a tautology.  To say it in more positive terms:  We have an
> operational
> definition of force.  We have an operational definition of
> mass.  We have
> an operational definition of acceleration.  In Newtonian
> mechanics, the
> equality between F and ma is a law, an approximate law, based
> on empirical
> observations.  We can design experiments to test whether F
> does equal ma to
> some greater or lesser degree of accuracy.

I agree with the above.  However, I was once informed by somebody
(two people, actually, who certainly acted as though *I* was the
misguided one) that F=ma is actually a theory, not a law.  Is anyone
familiar with this alternate view who can provide the argument for it?

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| Robert Cohen               Department of Physics       |
|                            East Stroudsburg University |
| rcohen@po-box.esu.edu      East Stroudsburg, PA  18301 |
| http://www.esu.edu/~bbq/   (570) 422-3428              |
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