Re: [Phys-l] g...

["Folkerts, Timothy J" <FolkertsT@bartonccc.edu>]

> While gravitational force is well defined, weight actually varies from one
> author to another, so it is not well established.  

To me, the strange thing about the NIST definition is the terminology "local force of gravity".  Apparently "force of gravity" is NOT well-established!

> From NIST:
"The local force of gravity on a body, that is, its weight, consists of the resultant of all the gravitational forces acting on the body and the local centrifugal force due to the rotation of the celestial object."

The "local force of gravity" is not the gravitational force at a particular location???
So NIST is defining a whole new term - the local force of gravity - which is the same a weight (which is the same as many people call "apparent weight).  To define "the local foce of gravity" as including gravity AND centripetal forces just seem perverse to me. 


Tim F