Re: F=ma; new strain...

[cliff parker <cparker@CHARTER.NET>]

As a complete mystery!  Isn't it nice that there are some things that nobody
understands?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nathaniel Davis" <haphaestus@earthlink.net>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2003 6:38 PM
Subject: F=ma; new strain...


> I asked about a year ago about the same time a question that still vexes
me;
> but for which I have no reasonable solution beyond some categorical
response
> I received that involved Einstein's theory of General Relativity, which I
> could hardly provide for students as a rationale.
>
> I would like to pose the question again...
>
> Mass (the "amount" of something) is directly connected to the force of
> gravitational attraction:  Weight.
>
> We also define mass according to the measure of inertia, i.e., more
massive
> objects "carry" more inertia.
>
> I remember my college professors constantly alluding the fact that
inertial
> mass is always equal to gravitational mass.  But why is this true?
Wherein
> lies the equivalency?  The "inertial mass" should be completely
independent
> of a gravitational field, right?
>
> How can I explain this to my high-school students?