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3 votes
2 answers
279 views

Can we use relative motion if acceleration of two bodies are different?

Suppose, on the $x$-axis, a body $A$ is moving with velocity $v_1$ and acceleration $a_1$, and a second body $B$ is moving with velocity $v_2$ and acceleration $a_2$. $B$ is at a distance of $S$ from $...
11 votes
3 answers
7k views

How can you accelerate without moving?

I know this question has been asked in other forms, generally regarding the balance of forces. This time I want to focus on motion. I've got a laser accelerometer on my desk. It tells me that I'm ...
16 votes
7 answers
11k views

Is acceleration relative?

A while back in my Dynamics & Relativity lectures my lecturer mentioned that an object need not be accelerating relative to anything - he said it makes sense for an object to just be accelerating. ...
0 votes
2 answers
74 views

Accelerating body in a non-inertial frame of reference

If a body is subjected to a force, can I find a non-inertial frame of reference in which the body is not accelerating?
2 votes
1 answer
110 views

Flying mosquito problem [duplicate]

Let's say there is a car and its doors and windows are closed. Basically it is a closed space inside. There is a mosquito hovering right in the center of closed space of the car. While doing so the ...
2 votes
3 answers
553 views

If I accelerate through space, can I say all stars gain kinetic energy?

Suppose I accelerate through empty space. Say all stars are small heavy marbles I can use to do work with by means of their velocity. Say I can let them smash into some generator that turns their ...
13 votes
11 answers
3k views

What is the essential difference between constant speed and acceleration?

I do know what the difference is but what I am trying to understand is how an object knows its speed is changing and/or how space knows an object is accelerating. The particular thing I am interested ...
0 votes
1 answer
95 views

For an airplane moving north from some latitude (say $30^{\circ}N$), why does rotation of the Earth cause an increase in apparent drag?

I'm not able to understand the answer to this example: Example 10 from the Curtis Orbital Mechanics text book : An airplane of mass $70 000\ \mathrm{ kg}$ is traveling due north at latitude $30^\circ$...
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is my acceleration in my own frame?

This is , I suppose not a good question , but I think I am missing something which confuses me in this question. So my question is: Velocity is relative. So suppose a car is moving at a speed $200 \;\...
0 votes
2 answers
91 views

Why does these two masses not have same acceleration? [closed]

Assumptions: No friction , $m_2$=5kg and $z_1$=2kg. $z_2$ is fixed at its place. Here, there is a mass of $5kg$ on a movable wedge of mass $2kg$. So, my question is that can we say that acceleration ...
1 vote
1 answer
169 views

Acceleration and geodesics in General Relativity

Consider this situation: A) An aeroplane travels a distance from point A to point B which are located on the opposite sides of the Earth. The aeroplane has taken the shortest possible distance to ...
1 vote
0 answers
37 views

Why does the equation for transformation of relative acceleration from one non-inertial system to another involve absolute angular velocities?

It seems that the equation for transforming between two different expressions of the relative acceleration of a vector involves absolute angular velocities, which I find surprising. Consider two non-...
0 votes
3 answers
419 views

If Earth accelerates, what reference frame is its acceleration relative to?

It should be a very fundamental thing, a very simple question. But there's something I want to understand. We know that when we throw an apple vertically upwards, it experiences a force of gravity ...
0 votes
1 answer
69 views

Unreachable relavistic particle in accelarated motion

Let's say I have a particle in a uniformly acclerated motion such that $$ a_\mu a^\mu = -g^2, \quad g > 0\ {\rm and\ constant} \tag1 $$ I want to prove that any signal coming from a apace-time ...
0 votes
1 answer
197 views

Deriving the equality between the external torque and the rate of change of angular momentum, for a system of particles

I've started working through Analytical Mechanics for Relativity and Quantum Mechanics by Oliver Johns and I'm stuck on deriving a formula. In the section titled "Change of Angular Momentum", Johns ...

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