I certainly agree that to call "g" the "acceleration due to gravity"
is incorrect. I call it the"gravitational field strength". After all,
surely it is defined as being the gravitational force on a unit mass
at any particular point, i.e. the number of newtons per
kilogram(g=F/m). If this is the only force acting on the body, then
applying F=ma will lead to a value of "a" that is numerically equal
to "g" - a special case. A result, I suppose, of the equivalence of
gravitational mass and inertial mass. Why should the property of a
body that determines its resistance to changes in motion be the same
as the property that determines the force ofgravity that another body
exerts on it?
Iain Chinnery
Hagley Community College
Christchurch
New Zealand
CH@hagley.school.nz