Re: centrifugal force

[SCIAMANDA@edinboro.edu]

Ludwig wrote:

> Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 Bob Sciamanda <trebor@velocity.net> wrote:

> > ... I would speak of a centrifugal effect, not of a centrifugal force
> >     (within the context of Newtonian mechanics). ....
> > (Sorry, but I was quiet the last time this can of worms was opened!)

> But, as you probably remember, the debate started by considering the
> so-called "free body" diagram for a bead on a rotating straw. In the
> frame of reference in which the straw is at rest the bead has an
> acceleration "a". And whenever we have "a" we must recognize F=m*a.
> That was the dilemma. And how to distinguish real weight from a 
> fictitious "weight" (if you are a creature living inside of a spinning
> tire, for example). Spinning habitates are supposed to be used by space 
travelers in a distant future.
                                         Ludwik Kowalski
Ludwig,
       The stance of Newtonian Mechanics is that if you can find a 
consistent set of "forcing" agents to account for the accelerations 
which you observe then you are (at least operationaly) in an inertial 
frame and can use F=ma.  If not then this is how you 
discover and measure YOUR a.

-Bob

Bob Sciamanda           
Dept of Physics         trebor@velocity.net
Edinboro Univ of PA     http://www.velocity.net/~trebor