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Re: [Phys-l] Weightless



| If we adopt Halliday's definition, that is, weight of a body
| is the magnitude of the net force required to prevent the
| body from falling freely, as measured by someone on the
| ground and the weight of a body must be measured when the
| body is not accelerating vertically relative to the ground.

Joel wrote:
This matches John Denker's definition with the exception that Denker
doesn't require that the weight be defined only relative to the earth's
rest frame (I think), which strikes me as an advantage
flexibility-wise.

Yes, Flexiblilty-wise is advantageous for the experts, but it may lead to confusions for the students. To avoid confusion or hair splitting situation, it makes sense to have more specific or exact definitions. However, one should distinguish the definitions of weight in different context, whether in daily lives, general physics course or general relativity etc...