What do you think of the terms used in this article?

  • Level: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter swampwiz
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    article Terms
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
1 reply · 1K views
swampwiz
Messages
567
Reaction score
83
The article is about something spinning at an incredibly high rate, with a blurb from the scientist saying that the spin rate is so high that the angular acceleration is compared to gravity - which makes no sense since gravity is a linear acceleration, and as well, if it were the tangential acceleration that were meant, these parameters would be normal to each other. And as well, for a celestial body (i.e., that would be required to have any discernible gravity), the tangential acceleration is very, very small (outside of a planetquake.)

I mentioned that what must have been meant was the centripetal acceleration to be compared to gravity - which would make absolute sense since it is tightly correlated to the angular velocity - and is consistent with being compared to gravity, both concerning the units and the direction.

Some commenter flamed me for contending this.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/the-fastest-spinning-object-ever-made/279198/
 
Physics news on Phys.org