Re: F=m*a, was Thermodynamics

[Robert Cohen <Robert.Cohen@PO-BOX.ESU.EDU>]

Are you asking: if we had a volume of air experiencing a pressure gradient,
*could* the air accelerate in a way that is totally opposite that predicted
by F=ma (or dP/dx = rho*a)?

This question is different than asking if each individual molecule *could*
do something besides that predicted by F=ma.

Robert Cohen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Justin Parke [mailto:FIZIX29@AOL.COM]
> Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001 2:21 PM
> To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
> Subject: Re: F=m*a, was Thermodynamics
>
> I appreciate all of the comments I have seen.  I certainly
> did not intend to ressurect the debate over whether
> accelerations cause forces.  Let me attempt to rephrase my question:
>
> If it is permissible in thermodynamics to say that gas
> molecules *could* do something (collect in one corner of a
> container) but are instead observed to do something else in
> every case (distribute themselves throughout the volume of a
> container) why can we not say that an object *could* have any
> acceleration but instead is always observed to have an
> acceleration which could be predicted by the equation a=Fnet/m?
>
> Justin