Fundamental measurement of force and Newton's first and second laws of motion

Philosophy of Science 40 (4):481-495 (1973)
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Abstract

The measurement of force is based on a formal law of additivity, which characterizes the effects of two or more configurations on the equilibrium of a material point. The representing vectors (resultant forces) are additive over configurations. The existence of a tight interrelation between the force vector and the geometric space, in which motion is described, depends on observations of partial (directional) equilibria; an axiomatization of this interrelation yields a proof of part two of Newton's second law of motion. The present results (which were derived from a curious and deep isomorphism between force measurement and trichromatic color measurement) yield a kind of subunit, which needs to be incorporated into more complete axiomatizations of mechanics that would fulfill the Mach-Kirchhoff program

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Citations of this work

The Composition of Forces.Olivier Massin - 2017 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 68 (3):805-846.

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References found in this work

Concepts of Force: A Study in the Foundations of Dynamics.Max Jammer - 1957 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 10 (37):69-73.
The axiomatization of physical theories.Herbert A. Simon - 1970 - Philosophy of Science 37 (1):16-26.

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