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Re: [Phys-l] Weightless



On 11/20/2006 01:28 PM, I wrote:

*The reference frame matters!*

I hope it goes without saying, but let me explicitly state that the
choice of reference frame does not change the physics; it just changes
the words we use to describe the physics.

The trajectory of the astronauts through spacetime is what it is,
quite independent of whether we analyze it using the space station
frame, analyze it using an earthbound frame, or don't analyze it
at all.

As an imperfect analogy, an electron in an electromagnetic field moves
through spacetime along the same trajectory, no matter what frame is
used to analyze the motion ... but a field that appears purely electrostatic
in one frame will have both electric and magnetic fields in another frame.

The words change, but the observable physics stays the same.