Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE MECHANICAL UNIVERSE (Program 1)
- Chapter 2 THE LAW OF FALLING BODIES (Program 2)
- Chapter 3 THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE: DERIVATIVES AND INTEGRALS
- Chapter 4 INERTIA
- Chapter 5 VECTORS
- Chapter 6 NEWTON'S LAWS AND EQUILIBRIUM
- Chapter 7 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND CIRCULAR MOTION
- Chapter 8 FORCES
- Chapter 9 FORCES IN ACCELERATING REFERENCE FRAMES
- Chapter 10 ENERGY: CONSERVATION AND CONVERSION
- Chapter 11 THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
- Chapter 12 OSCILLATORY MOTION
- Chapter 13 ANGULAR MOMENTUM
- Chapter 14 ROTATIONAL DYNAMICS FOR RIGID BODIES
- Chapter 15 GYROSCOPES
- Chapter 16 KEPLER'S LAWS AND THE CONIC SECTIONS
- Chapter 17 SOLVING THE KEPLER PROBLEM
- Chapter 18 NAVIGATING IN SPACE
- Chapter 19 TEMPERATURE AND THE GAS LAWS
- Chapter 20 THE ENGINE OF NATURE
- Chapter 21 ENTROPY
- Chapter 22 THE QUEST FOR LOW TEMPERATURE
- Appendix A THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS
- Appendix B CONVERSION FACTORS
- Appendix C FORMULAS FROM ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY, AND TRIGONOMETRY
- Appendix D ASTRONOMICAL DATA
- Appendix E PHYSICAL CONSTANTS
- SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Index
Chapter 9 - FORCES IN ACCELERATING REFERENCE FRAMES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE MECHANICAL UNIVERSE (Program 1)
- Chapter 2 THE LAW OF FALLING BODIES (Program 2)
- Chapter 3 THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE: DERIVATIVES AND INTEGRALS
- Chapter 4 INERTIA
- Chapter 5 VECTORS
- Chapter 6 NEWTON'S LAWS AND EQUILIBRIUM
- Chapter 7 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND CIRCULAR MOTION
- Chapter 8 FORCES
- Chapter 9 FORCES IN ACCELERATING REFERENCE FRAMES
- Chapter 10 ENERGY: CONSERVATION AND CONVERSION
- Chapter 11 THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
- Chapter 12 OSCILLATORY MOTION
- Chapter 13 ANGULAR MOMENTUM
- Chapter 14 ROTATIONAL DYNAMICS FOR RIGID BODIES
- Chapter 15 GYROSCOPES
- Chapter 16 KEPLER'S LAWS AND THE CONIC SECTIONS
- Chapter 17 SOLVING THE KEPLER PROBLEM
- Chapter 18 NAVIGATING IN SPACE
- Chapter 19 TEMPERATURE AND THE GAS LAWS
- Chapter 20 THE ENGINE OF NATURE
- Chapter 21 ENTROPY
- Chapter 22 THE QUEST FOR LOW TEMPERATURE
- Appendix A THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS
- Appendix B CONVERSION FACTORS
- Appendix C FORMULAS FROM ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY, AND TRIGONOMETRY
- Appendix D ASTRONOMICAL DATA
- Appendix E PHYSICAL CONSTANTS
- SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Index
Summary
From the beginning it appeared to me intuitively clear that, judged from the standpoint of such an observer [moving relative to the earth], everything would have to happen according to the same laws as for an observer who, relative to the earth, was at rest.
Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes (1949)INERTIAL AND NONINERTIAL REFERENCE FRAMES
We have already introduced Galileo's ideas on relative motion in Chapter 4. We defined inertial frames – frames in which the law of inertia holds – and remarked that an observer in any inertial frame deduces the same laws of motion, and has no way of determining whether he is at rest or moving in an absolute sense. Galileo was able to provide striking examples of these ideas, such as a stone dropped from the mast of a moving boat, and to deduce a vitally important application – the earth need not be considered the stationary hub around which the heavens revolve.
However, Galileo did not have a clear-cut dynamical framework within which to derive his ideas. And exactly how to treat motion in a rotating frame, or indeed in any noninertial frame – one that is accelerated relative to an inertial frame – remained obscure.
It was only after Newton's second law was discovered that Galileo's ideas could be derived in a clear-cut way.
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- The Mechanical UniverseMechanics and Heat, Advanced Edition, pp. 203 - 218Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1986