| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Don1" |
| Date: |
16 Oct 2005 10:49:25 AM |
| Object: |
Mass and volume |
Mass is a quantity, or aggregation of matter, and inertia is it's
measure.
The volume of a body is not directly related to the quantity of matter
in it; but Newton tied the quantity of matter in a body with it's
volume through density:
It would have been clearer if Newton had used inertia - the _measure_
of mass - instead:
Newton knew that a body's weight (w) varies depending on the
acceleration (g) at which it free falls, and would have done better
defining mass as the quotient of its weight, divided by the
acceleration (g) at which it free falls at the location where it is
weighed.
Then he could have defined the ratio of the net force (f) exerted on,
and/or by a body; when divided by the acceleration (a) that it causes,
as being equal to the ratio of it's weight, divided by the acceleration
(g) at which it will free fall:
This gives f/a=w/g
This would have avoided a lot of problems associated with force, mass
and weight.
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| User: "Sam Wormley" |
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| Title: Re: Mass and volume |
16 Oct 2005 12:09:58 PM |
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Mass
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Mass.html
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/mimg185.gif
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