The GTF-Talk Archive.

From: Melissa Whalen <melw@more.net>

Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 12:37:38 -0600 (CST)

Subject: Excellent Comments on Force Equation!

 Thought this might be of interest to all on the list.
 
 Happy Friday!
 Melissa
 
 
 >From: Peter Whittaker 
 >To: "'melw@more.net'" 
 >Subject: Comment on GTF pages
 >Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 13:30:03 -0500
 >Encoding: 43 TEXT
 >
 >As a physicist and Tae-Kwon Do enthusiast (student of Mr. Wing Hon Fu,
 >Aylmer, PQ), I have to correct the force equation on the page
 >http://www.more.net/~melw/gtf/terms/power.htm
 >
 >The equation for force is
 >
 >	F = ma
 >
 >where "m" is mass and "a" is acceleration;  the formula for acceleration
 >is
 >
 >	a = v/t = d/t/t  (or d/(t**2) )
 >
 >where v is velocity (or speed if you ignore vector mechanics) and "t" is
 >time.
 >
 >The formula on that page
 >
 >	md/t
 >
 >is the formula for momentum, not force. Rewrite the formula as
 >
 >	md/t/t
 >
 >As a side note, the above equations are used when teaching the basics of
 >physics without the use of calculus, i.e., first and second year high
 >school students.  The actual definition of force is change in momentum
 >per unit time; assuming mass is constant over time, this equates to
 >
 >	m * dp/dt
 >
 >where dp/dt is the differential change in momentum - p - per unit time.
 >The units of m * dp/dt are the same as md/t/t, and that formula is valid
 >for constant accelerations.
 >
 >pww
 >
 >
 >Peter Whittaker         Entrust Key Validation Sequence:  7ORS-NGND-P6ZX
 >X.500 Specialist        mailto:pww@entrust.com    Phone: +1 613 765 2064
 >Nortel Secure Networks  http://www.entrust.com      Fax: +1 613 765 3520
 >
 >
 >
 >
 

[GTF-Talk Archive]