Ric, You wrote: snip> > > What I'd like to see at this point is that since Don, Sarah, Mark, and > Jim all are people we all rely on for physics insights, and because they > all present clearly different definitions of this concept,,, that these > four all bang this one through until they arrive at a common definiton > for us. > I marvel at your enthusiasm for "banging things through", a process which becomes boring to me very quickly. In the hopes of short-cutting this process, let me offer the following definitions from Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers: Inertia is that property of matter which causes a resistance to any change in the motion of a body. Mass is a quantitative measure of inertia. It seems to me that 1) All of the definitions/explanations from Don, Sarah, Mark, and Jim are compatible with these definitions, and 2) the "differences" which you have identified are for the most part semantic, springing from the different ways that these 4 different individuals express themselves when asked to elaborate and explain in detail. Bottom line, I see no need to "bang through" anything. But, if you're all so inclined, have at it, and have fun. I'll be signing off for a week as we're driving to Minneapolis to have Christmas with our daughters. Cheers, Mike PS, Ric, I've thought of you several times this past week, once on the Solstice as I recalled seeing the bonfires on the cliffs overlooking the Fjords from my Coast Guard Cutter back in the 70's, and again during a news story yesterday about the many seasonal beers brewed in Norway at Christmas time. Hope you're enjoying the holidays ; )
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