Re: [Phys-l] Weightless

[<carmelo@pacific.net.sg>]

Rick wrote:
> To Alphonsus:  Bob's post was a joke, as are the responses (mine and JM's)
> are too!   <smile>

Actually, it is quite shocking that this thread lasted for so long! <grin> 

Why not simply follow Feynman to describe the body as both "weightless" and seems weightless? While the phrases "sensation of weightlessness" or "apparently weightless" can be used as *pedagogical aids* for further explanation, zero weight, zero gravity or weightless are, in a sense, mere idealizations...


Alphonsus

p.s. Some poor students not only get confused with the definitions of weight. They may find it a challenge to distinguish some of the following
1. "weightless" 
2. seems weightless
3. "sensation of weightlessness" 
4. "apparently weightless" 
5. zero weight
6. zero gravity 
7. weightless and so on