I recall that Tony French commented on the radian either in a Physics Teacher
note or a talk at an AAPT meeting a few years ago. If I remember correctly,
he pointed out that a radian is the ratio of the an arc length divided by the
radius, where the arc length equals the radius. In SI units, the radian is
(1 m)/(1 m) = 1. Thus, the radian unit is merely a marker for 1. It follows
that in the equation v = rw, with w in rad/s, the rad unit can be replaced by
1 with no cause for confusion.
Gene
******************************
* Eugene P. Mosca *
* 301 Constitution Boulevard *
* Kutztown, PA 19530 *
* (610) 683-3597 *
* emosca@aol.com *
******************************
(On leave from the U.S. Naval Academy.)