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Re: [Phys-l] internal/external conservative/nonconservative forces!?!?

Bill Robertson wrote:

If I read you correctly, then it's okay
to say that the kinetic energy of a moving object resides somewhere
besides in the object.

I'm stealing John Mallinckrodt's thunderbolt, but I would agree that KE of a moving object cannot be ascribed to the object alone. Reason: speed of an object is NOT an intrinsic property of an object. It is RELATIVE to some frame of reference (hopefully inertial in the present case). That frame of reference is presumably attached to some other object (like the earth). If I switch to another inertial frame moving relative to the first frame, the KE "of the object" just changed, even though I didn't change anything about the object! Doesn't that mean the KE is NOT a property that "resides in" (belongs to) the object alone?