Is the act of gaining mass considered a 'motion'?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around whether the act of gaining mass can be considered a form of motion, with participants exploring the relationship between mass, inertia, and human behavior related to weight gain and loss. The scope includes conceptual inquiries into physics principles and their applicability to everyday phenomena.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions if gaining mass through eating can be classified as a motion, referencing Newton's First Law of Motion.
  • Another participant suggests that gaining weight is related to movement or lack thereof, implying that physical activity influences weight changes.
  • Some participants argue that the original question does not pertain to physics, suggesting it relates more to social sciences or biology.
  • There is a suggestion that gaining mass involves motion, as mass must come together to form a larger object, but this is contested as being outside the realm of physics.
  • Critiques are made regarding the premises of the original question, with some participants finding them unserious or confusing.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express disagreement on the relevance of the original question to physics, with some asserting that it does not fit within the discipline while others attempt to connect it to physical principles. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the classification of gaining mass as motion.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight the complexity of human behavior and its influence on weight, suggesting that factors beyond physics, such as habits and biological processes, play significant roles. The relationship between mass and motion is debated, with no consensus on how to frame the original question within a physics context.

alodia
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say a guy is eating and gains mass
does this act of gaining or losing mass considered a motion?

i know mass has a property called 'inertia' (or is it the other way around where inertia has the property of mass?)
and inertia is the 'resistance' to motion or change in state of motion

but i don't think I'm talking about inertia here...

what sparked this question?...
its just that fat people tend to stay fat
and people that stay healthy tend to stay healthy
what I'm saying is habits, that people tend to continue to do what they've always been doing
aka
Newton's First Law:
"An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force."

thanks
 
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Some people get fat because they don't move, or move enough.

what sparked this question?...
its just that fat people tend to stay fat
and people that stay healthy tend to stay healthy

But, in the end, everybody dies anyway.
 
... didn't answer questions..
 
alodia said:
... didn't answer questions..

Because that question isn't about physics. Look at the title at the top of the page. It says Physics Forums. Questions that are not about physics have a tendency to remain unanswered around here.
 
then what kind of question is this?

someone rephrase this: is the act of gaining mass considered a 'motion'? into a "physics" question please, because apparently I'm too stupid to be in this forum...
 
You are just trying to push an irrelevant analogy.
Newton's laws does not apply to people's habits.
But if you want to consider getting fat as a kind of motion, go ahead. What else is to it?

By the way, your premises are not really serious.
"people that stay healthy tend to stay healthy" ?
 
alodia said:
then what kind of question is this?

someone rephrase this: is the act of gaining mass considered a 'motion'? into a "physics" question please, because apparently I'm too stupid to be in this forum...

In order to gain mass, motion must be involved, otherwise objects with mass wouldn't come together to form a larger, more massive object.

Your original question is extremely confusing and involves things that don't fall under physics; IE people's eating habits and other behaviors. That is a social sciences/biology issue. There are many, many reasons people become and remain overweight. The only real physics explanation that applies here is that they don't burn more calories than they take in, which is what is required to lose weight.
 
The relationship between the original question and physics has been explained. Continuing to use a bad analogy is not going to take us anywhere we want to be.
 

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