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Re: [Phys-l] Weightless (running around in circles)



On 11/26/2006 11:22 AM, Jeffrey Schnick wrote:

It seems to me that the big differences between the GR model and the
Newtonian model have to do with what an inertial reference frame is and
what acceleration is.

The "reference frame" issue is tricky.

I learned a bunch of not-quite-right concepts at an early age
and it took me years and years to work out any semblance of a
satisfactory solution.

It's quite a dilemma for introductory physics courses, because
everybody "wants" to use the lab frame as their reference frame
... and everybody also "wants" the laws of motion to be valid
in their conventional simple form. Alas the lab frame is not
a Newtonian frame; there are lots of cases where it causes
a 100% error in the conservation of momentum.

For details, see
http://www.av8n.com/physics/reference-frames.htm