Re: [Phys-l] Equations (causal relationship)

[Brian McInnes <bmcinnes@pnc.com.au>]

John,

We (you and I) seem to be at risk of talking past each other -  
perhaps preparing for pistols at twenty paces.

I'm sorry that you see my statement of a physical model that is, I am  
sure (see, there I go again), held by many of us, to be a bold  
assertion.

Nevertheless, I will repeat it.
One (or more) force(s) acts (act)  on a particle; a particle  
experiences a single acceleration (which may have a different value  
in a different frame of reference).

Let me make a final comment on one of your comments:

> This is not a technicality.  If you permit me to pick apart the force
> I can also pick apart the acceleration;  if you require me to lump
> the accelerations together I will insist on lumping the forces  
> together.
> I must insist on consistency.

Ah, the difference is that there can be many individual forces but  
there is only a single acceleration.  It is not a matter of  
consistency  or not but of the physics of the situation.
My bold assertion against your bold insistence.

Otherwise I will leave it to our colleagues on the list to comment,  
as and if they wish, on  our points of difference.

Brian McInnes