Re: what to call little "g"

[Mark Sylvester <msylvest@spin.it>]

> From John Gastineau:
>
> I seem to have ignited a firestorm. I do enjoy this. 
>
> Herb Schulz wrote:
>
> > Sorry but "magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of
> > the earth" is the correct title.  The implication is that when gravity is
> > the ONLY force acting on the object the object will have an acceleration
> > with magnitude 'g'.  If the name is too long for you that's why we use 'g'!
>
> I have to respectfully disagree here. As Jim Green said, in dynamics
> the "g" term always ends up on the "F" side of F=ma. As such, g
> isn't an acceleration, but relates the gravitational force to the
> gravitational "charge" (the mass)....

Points deleted which I found pleasantly enlightening. I habitually use
"local acceleration of free fall" when doing Galileo etc but change to
"gravitational field strength" when drawing a parallel between F=mg and F=Eq
and so on. (btw E can be in N/C or V/m and this is not at all like measuring
torque in joules!)
 
> From the discussion there's pretty much a consensus that the terms
> as used now are misleading. What to do?  Freefall acceleration  for
> the latter case seems easy to say. But what to call 9.8 N/kg? Are we 
> comfortable with local gravitational constant, even though it isn't
> constant? (I guess the particle types out there won't be troubled by
> > variable constants...)

I really don't like calling g a gravitational constant local or not.
"Gravitational intensity" comes to mind if you want a term that means field
strength without using the world field, but I don't like that either - too
archaic.

What I really wish to draw attention to is the fact that a while ago, during
the last outbreak of the centripetal wars, I was very happy to have it
clarified for me that mg is really an evil pseudoforce, the consequence of
living in a non-inertial reference frame, and that g is really and truly
after all is said and done best viewed as an acceleration.

So isn't this quest for terminology which is both pedagogically helpful and
at the same time completely correct doomed from the outset?

Mark.

Mark Sylvester
UWCAd, Duino, Trieste, Italy.