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Abstract


The Equivalence Principle as a Consequence of the Third Law

David F. Roscoe
Year: 1992 Pages: 3
Keywords: Equivalence Principle, Third Law
One of the enduring mystries of classical and modern physics arises from the fact that the value obtained for the gravitational-mass ratio of two particles compared in a weighing experiment is identical to the value obtained for the inertial-mass ratio of the same two particles compared in a collision experimetn (to within experimental error).  For this reason we speak of the equivalence between inertial and gravitational mass, and tend  to use the concepts interchangeably.  However, whilst practitioners of science and engineering have been content to accept this equivalence as a matter of fact, there has, until recently, been no rational understanding of it.  However, recently, Ghosh, Assis and I have each given the basis for such an understanding.