Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!hocda!spanky!burl!rcj From: rcj@burl.UUCP Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: Re: Rate of Speed Message-ID: <173@burl.UUCP> Date: Sun, 12-Jun-83 19:47:16 EDT Article-I.D.: burl.173 Posted: Sun Jun 12 19:47:16 1983 Date-Received: Tue, 14-Jun-83 02:35:49 EDT Lines: 29 Just resubscribed to this newsgroup, and had forgotten how DAMNED PICKY you people can be. Just to join in for fun, here is my $.02 regarding "rate of speed": All these are taken from Halliday & Resnick's popular book for first semester physics: Fundamentals of Physics. The VELOCITY of a particle is the rate at which its position changes with time. The INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY of a particle is the limit of change in displacement over change in time at time 't' as both change in displacement and change in time approach zero. The SPEED of a particle is the MAGNITUDE of the INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY of the particle. The ACCELERATION of a particle is rate of change of its VELOCITY with time. Hence, the phrase "rate of speed" makes no more sense than the phrase "rate of 40" -- to seriously consider talk about the rate of a scalar magnitude is ridiculous. Speed cannot possibly equate to velocity, not even in a one-dimensional universe -- travel in a single dimension still has two possible directions. I hope this quiets things down, but now I would like to start up a new one on a very closely related subject: What about words like speed, which mean one thing to the layman and quite another to the specialist. Quite often, these words mean different things to different specialists as well. Anyone want to talk about such words? -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3814 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ floyd sb1 mhuxv ]!burl!rcj