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Old September 26th 03, 04:28 AM
J. McLaughlin
 
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Wow!

In SI: force is in Newtons
mass is in kg
distance is in meters
time is in seconds - and answers are always in SI units if
you use SI units.

A mass in a gravitational field has a force associated. That force is
not a mass even if it is (some of the time) proportional to mass.

When certain kinds of engineers provide me with specifications
involving pounds I shudder. Each use is converted into its equivalent
in SI. The context helps. An assumption of the strength of the
gravitational field needs to be used. Then I evaluate their work using
SI (and the same assumption about the gravitational field). In SI,
force and mass are quite distinct.
I continue to be amazed by the awesome ability of some engineers to
use a single term for two entirely different things. Use SI and the
answers are SI.
73 Mac N8TT

--
J. Mc Laughlin - Michigan USA
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