Laboratory Test of Newton's Second Law for Small Accelerations

Journal Article · Fri Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.98.150801· OSTI ID:20951226

Gundlach, J H; Schlamminger, S; Spitzer, C D; Choi, K -Y; Woodahl, B A; Coy, J J; Fischbach, E ^[1]

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1. Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States)

We have tested the proportionality of force and acceleration in Newton's second law, F=ma, in the limit of small forces and accelerations. Our tests reach well below the acceleration scales relevant to understanding several current astrophysical puzzles such as the flatness of galactic rotation curves, the Pioneer anomaly, and the Hubble acceleration. We find good agreement with Newton's second law at accelerations as small as 5x10{sup -14} m/s{sup 2}.

• OSTI ID: 20951226
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 98, Issue 15; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.150801; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
GALAXIES
HUBBLE EFFECT
ROTATION