Re: F=ma

[Bob Sciamanda <trebor@VELOCITY.NET>]

It could be said that force plays the same intermediary role in mechanics
as does the first introduction of the electrostatic field in electrical
science. IE.:

1) It is asserted that a particle's acceleration is a function of the
state of its environment (the properties of other particles).

2) The force concept is then introduced (and reified?) as a conceptual and
calculational aid which reduces this to a two-step evaluation:
    a) the force (field) of the environment at the location of the subject
particle and
    b) the acceleration of the subject particle which results therefrom.

3) Together, this becomes F=mA.

Bob

Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (em)
trebor@velocity.net
http://www.velocity.net/~trebor

----- Original Message -----
From: Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Friday, November 05, 1999 10:02 AM
Subject: F=ma


> I've always looked at Newton's second law as being somehow incomplete.
> It does not include what I consider to be a causal element. Forces do
> cause accelerations, at least that is what my intuition tells me, or I
> was successfully brainwashed a long time ago. (This latter possibility
> is often referred to as "common sense".) . . .
> Leigh