Superphysics Superphysics
Section 4

The Galileian System Of Co–ordinates

by Albert Einstein Icon
1 minutes  • 189 words

The law of inertia is fundamental to the mechanics of Galilei-Newton. It is stated as:

An isolated body continues in a state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line.

This law says something about:

  • the motion of the bodies
  • the reference-bodies or systems of co-ordinates in mechanics

The law of inertia applies to fixed stars.

If the Earth is a system of non-moving coordinates, then every star revolves in huge orbits around the earth in one Earth-day [geocentric]. This is opposed to the law of inertia.

This means that it is the stars that are in non-moving co-ordinates [heliocentric].

This system were the law of inertia applies is called a “Galileian system of coordinates.” The Classical mechanics of Galilei-Newton are valid only for a Galileian system of coordinates*.

Superphysics Note
In order to justify the dominance of light, Einstein bases the different kinds of movement onto the different kinds of spacetime. Instead of such sophistry, we assign Classical mechanics to the Material layer and not to Galilean coordinates. We assign Special Relativity to the Electromagnetic layer and not to the Lorentz Transformation or to Minkowski space

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