Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: Problem



At 10:52 AM 9/19/01 -0400, Michael Edmiston wrote:
I am asking if the notation and nomenclature is anything anyone has agreed
upon.

I doubt there is an agreed-upon name for this quantity. It's not important
enough. As for notation, the appropriate combination of standard symbols
appears adequate to the task.

Would the name "tangential acceleration" be correct in general?

"Tangential acceleration" paints a clear picture for me, with the proviso
that at the exceptional point where speed=0, there is no tangent.

You can call it the snarkification vector if you want, provided you define
your terms.

Would there be general agreement that "tangential acceleration" is what
we're talking about in all these cases?

Definitely not. In the situation that provoked this thread, the
acceleration was 100% not tangential; it was perpendicular to the
tangent. A name like "transverse acceleration" might be appropriate.

If we are dealing with 2-D or 3-D motion, my first impression
would be dv/dt implies d|v|/dt if the v is not bold or does not have an
arrow;

Yeah, but boldface and arrows don't translate to the stone-age technology
that we use for this mailing list.....