Gene Nygaard wrote:
"You are talking about something different from mass."
Yes. An orbiting astronaut may be weightless due to a particular balance
of forces, but he has mass and inertia.
We have weight and force. Either weight or force may be expressed in
pounds or kilograms. The conversion number I remember and use is: 2.2
pounds equal 1 kilogram.
The dictionary says the kilogram is a unit of mass, since a mass can
conveniently be accurately represented by an object. That particular
object is a cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy, called the international
prototype kilogram. This object is preserved in a vault at Sevres,
France.
Work may be meaasured as force times distance or as pounds times feet.
Power is work per unit time. Power may be expressed as foot-pounds per
minute. James Watt`s horse was said capable of working at a rate of
33,000 foot-pounds per minute. I calculate that as 250 kilogram-feet per
second or 76.2 kilogram-meters per second.
Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI
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