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Re: [Phys-l] Inertia?

On 10-Nov-08, at 7:57 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
This clip (below) was posted (on another list). I find it misleading
-- am I incorrect?

My take on it is that most demonstrations of Newton's First Law are actually better described as demonstrations of impulse, where delta_t is very small, or F is small (as is the case in this video, rolling friction is small). I'm thinking of the "whipping the tablecloth off the table" trick, where there is actually a force applied to the dinnerware, but the time is short so nothing gets moving too fast.

Mike

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Michael Porter
Colonel By Secondary School
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada