Re: [Phys-l] Weightless

[<carmelo@pacific.net.sg>]

Richard Tarara wrote:
> Does this include laying on my back with my feet (and scale in the air)? 
> Great, I've always wanted to be weightless--or at least less weighty.

If we adopt Halliday's definition, that is, weight of a body is the magnitude of the net force required to prevent the body from falling freely, as measured by someone on the ground and the weight of a body must be measured when the body is not accelerating vertically relative to the ground. This definition could be disappointed to Richard? 

Another textbook suggests "weight of a body is defined to be the gravitational attraction of a massive body (such as the Earth) for that body."

The definitions on *weight* can be culturally dependent.

Alphonsus