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Re: What is weight? (was Re: Internal or external?)

On Sun, 10 Oct 1999, Jerome Epstein wrote:

From the viewpoint of basic NEwtonian mechanics, weight is just the
force of gravitational attraction, GMm/R^2, in all inertial frames.

But why isn't it enough to call that "the force of gravity" and leave the
term "weight" with a more durable and operationally meaningful definition?
Do you really want to deny that astronauts are "weightless"? Do you want
to miss out on the pedagogical fruits of distinguishing between
"weightlessness" and "the absence of gravitational force"?

John Mallinckrodt mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm