🚀 go-pugleaf

On Wed, 22 Feb 1995, Cherie Lehman wrote:

> I forgot to finish what I was saying about the spring scales, John.
> If you were describing the process of hanging the mass from the
> spring scale in order to determine its weight (I know you don't like
> to call the downward gravitational pull on an object weight. 8->  ),
> then I object to your calling it the object's mass quite strongly.
> Yes, yes, the 2 quantities are directly proportional as long as you
> stay in one place.  However, a spring scale calibrated in mass units
> for a particular location -- say the earth -- will not necessarily
> yield the same value at other places -- say the moon or in an orbiting
> space shuttle.  Some sort of balance is a better choice for "massing"
> objects.  A double pan balance yields the same result on both moon &
> earth.  An inertial balance yields the same result on the earth, the
> moon, or in an orbiting space craft.
>
> In my class, we weigh things with a spring scale & we mass things with
> a balance.  It is said that you must choose your battles.  This is one
> of mine.
>
> I yield the soap box to the next writer.
>
> Cherie                                 Cherie Lehman
> clehman@purccvm.bitnet                 West Lafayette High School
Cherie - What are we doing with torbal 'balance', double beam balances
with beams for tens and hundreds and a torsion spring for the 0.01
through units?  Isn't this device finding partly mass and partly weight?

Units and Quantities, A couple of bothersome items --
Volt - Is it a quantity or a unit?  I prefer 'Electrical Potential
Difference" over voltage because it does not contain 'volt'.  Reserve
'volt' to be used as a J/Coul.

Current does not flow.  Reference to the "current flowing" in a circuit
is redundant.  Charge flows and the flowing charge is current.

Thanks for this 2c worth.

Weldon Benzinger
Eureka High School
Eureka, CA <albenzi@cello.gina.calstate.edu>