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Re: centrifugal force



Am I correct in saying that in the non-inertial frame the "agent"
which accounts for the accelerations observed ALWAYS has the
property that the force required is proportional to the mass
being accelerated?

Paul


At 14:36 30/04/98 -0700, you wrote:
That is perverse! In Newtonian mechanics an inertial frame is
operationally defined as one in which the law of inertia holds;
it is as simple as that. In a rotating frame one can certainly
find an "agent" which accounts for accelerations observed (the
rotation is such an "agent"), but few would claim that the
rotating frame is an inertial frame.

Leigh


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Yates
Department of Physics
University of Otago
PO Box 56 Fax: (64)3 479 0964
Dunedin Phone: (64)3 479 7742
New Zealand Cell: (025) 412 202
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