Re: Banked road

[Rick Tarara <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>


> "D.V.N.Sarma" wrote:
>
> > It is the interpretation of the observer that an outward force is acting
> > on him when he is in a rotating frame. What he actually feels is the
> > pressure between him and sides of the car. Since he knows that
> > he is not exerting any muscular effort to produce this pressure and
> > since he cannot bring himself to believe that an inanimate thing like
> > a car can exert such a pressure on him, he interprets that some
> > mysterious force is pushing him towards the sides of the car. This
> > he calls 'centrifugal force'.
>
> I wouldn't have said that.
>
> It is not traditional and not recommended to ask what the observer
"feels".
> Observers are paid to observe the objects in their vicinity, not to worry
> about what they themselves are feeling.
I _would_ discuss what the observer feels.  The students have experienced
the situation described above.  They can relate to this and to their
'feelings' while on various carnival rides.  You can use that experience to
then discuss the physics.  If one is to analyze the non-inertial frame both
as viewed from an inertial frame and as viewed from within the accelerating
frame, then it seems to me that it is essential to analyze what the observer
'feels' in order to bring understanding to the situation.

Rick

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Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

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