Re: i,j,k -- OK, I get it

[John Mallinckrodt <ajmallinckro@CSUPOMONA.EDU>]

On Fri, 17 Sep 1999, Michael Edmiston wrote:

> Although I'm still confused about John Mallinckrodt's mass and power
> vectors, I think I just realized another thing he was saying about my
> view of unit vectors which means I was viewing it incorrectly.

Because I have developed enormous respect for Michael Edmiston as a result
of his consistently interesting and thoughtful posts to phys-l, I am
somewhat relieved to hear that we are, once again, in agreement.

Allow me, then, to clear up the remaining mystery.  I never said they were
mass and power vectors.  Indeed, as Michael points out, mass and power are
scalars.  In the first case I was, in fact, referring to momentum per unit
speed and in the second, force times speed.  ;-)

I hoped that the apparently bizarre choice of examples would help to make
my point.  Who knows, maybe it did!

John Mallinckrodt      mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona          http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm