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by marcosscriven 3835 days ago
Accidentally up voted you :)

They get to that vast 8km/s veloctiy you mention with huge rocket engines. Then they turn them off.

At that point the astronauts and their craft are in freefall.

You mention an outward 'vector'? You can only talk about forces and their effects on masses really. There's an intertia that resists the downward acceleration, but that's not a force.
1 comments
1stop 3835 days ago
Pretty sure inertia IS a force. But I think this point has been laboured enough.

Tomayto...Tomarto.

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marcosscriven 3835 days ago
A force is the product of mass and acceleration. Its SI units are kg.m/s^2

Inertia is an inherent property of mass. If it were the same as a force its units would be the same.

So it's really not tomayto...tomato I'm afraid. It's right and wrong.

You are right the point has been laboured, but it upsets me to think you would go on under this misconception.

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1stop 3835 days ago
Gravity is also an inherent property of mass... It's also a force.

Crazy huh?

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vectorjohn 3830 days ago
No, not crazy. Not all properties of mass are force. For example, inertia. Also, really we should be talking matter, not mass.
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