"Railroad lines represent useful constraints to freight cars" A clear application of the 3rd law depending on the frame of reference of the "static" rail system. So would the "frame" itself constitute a constraint ?
On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 11:53 PM, <plissa...@comcast.net> wrote: > Come on, Peoples! Work is DEFINED in Newtonian mechanics as being done > "when a force moves its point of application". Thass all - and plenty > enuff! So you lift a box up to a shelf - you doing work, as defined by > Isaac, the Laborers Union and most Plain Folks. You put a whiskey jigger on > a pool table - it and the table move, a very leetle bit, and work be done by > gravity. > > Railroad lines represent useful constraints to freight cars. Thanks to > them the car becomes an "object that moves in predestinate grooves"! The > car is subject to acceleration due to all forces acting on it, but the rails > try to keep it from cross track motion. They does their best - to the > extent that they are capable. > > You may generalize the technical terms "force", "work" and "constraint" as > far as you like. After all, they had meaning in language long before they > were "defined" by Newton and La Grange for specific mechanical concepts. > St. Paul (2 nd Corinthians III, 14) said: "The love of Christ constraineth > us". I dunno what he meant, but the nice thing about the Bible is that you > can choose for yourself what it means! > > It seems helpful to note that the tracks constrain the response of the cars > to applied forces (more or less!). It's useful and human to employ the word > in a more general sense, and it probably means roughly the same thing to > most people. And if not, who cares? "What's in a name?" as someone said! > Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures > > Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for. > > 1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505,USA > tel:(505)983-7728 > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
