Yes, the difference between defining units and defining concepts is clouding
the issue. I didn't intend to do that. I went to NIST and IUPAP etc. to
see if these people ever tried to define the concept of force; I already
knew they define the unit of force. But I think some of these organizations
attempt to describe the concept of force also.
Yes, it is possible to develop a concept of force that does not involve
acceleration. Jack described a concept development using gravity and
equilibrium measurements. I might quibble with the idea this does not
involve acceleration by mentioning general relativity, but I won't go there
anymore than I already did.
I guess what I don't understand it why some think development of the concept
of force via F=ma is so bonkers. I have a concept of mass. I have a
concept of acceleration. Why can't I develop a concept of force as that
thing necessary to make a mass have acceleration? I say...A net force is
necessary to make a mass have acceleration. You say... Oh, what's a force?
I say... That thing you did to the mass to make it accelerate.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817