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interact by means of force

English translation: interact through dry friction

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:interact by means of force
Selected answer:interact through dry friction
Entered by: Nik-On/Off

12:48 Dec 23, 2006
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Science - Physics / scientific writing
English term or phrase: interact by means of force
The mass M interacts with the moving belt by means of force of dry friction.

Dear native speakers, how does this sentence sound to you, especially the "by means of" part. Would you replace it with a different preposition such as "by"? Thank you in advance
Nik-On/Off
Ukraine
Local time: 16:50
through dry friction
Explanation:
Your suggestion is rubbish. You would never say "by means of force of" anything. Why mention force at all? Why use "by means of" when "through" expresses the required meaning much better? When in doubt, keep it simple!

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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-12-23 15:42:43 GMT)
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Yes, I am not disputing that it is a force, but what else would you expect friction to be? Friction is a force by definition; so including "force" does not add to the meaning> And "through the force of dry friction" sounds terribly clumsy. I suppose "through dry frictional forces" would be a bit better, but I still can't for the life of me see why you need to include the word "force".
Selected response from:

Richard Benham
France
Local time: 15:50
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +4through dry friction
Richard Benham
4the agency of the force of friction
Erika Reed (X)


  

Answers


40 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
the agency of the force of friction


Explanation:
"by means of" is used here to elaborate on the nature of the interaction, explaining that there is something inherent in 'the force of friction' that explains the way the moving belt and mass M interact.
the 'means' of something is its ability to cause something or have an effect, or its 'agency'.
in example, to completely rephrase, one could say that 'the interaction (or relationship) between mass M and the moving belt can be determined "through", "using" or "by applying" (the laws, theory, or agency of) the force of dry friction.


    Reference: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=means
Erika Reed (X)
United States
Local time: 09:50
Native speaker of: Native in NorwegianNorwegian, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Richard Benham: Sorry this doesn't make any sense to me.
1 hr
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
by means of force of dry friction
through dry friction


Explanation:
Your suggestion is rubbish. You would never say "by means of force of" anything. Why mention force at all? Why use "by means of" when "through" expresses the required meaning much better? When in doubt, keep it simple!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-12-23 15:42:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Yes, I am not disputing that it is a force, but what else would you expect friction to be? Friction is a force by definition; so including "force" does not add to the meaning> And "through the force of dry friction" sounds terribly clumsy. I suppose "through dry frictional forces" would be a bit better, but I still can't for the life of me see why you need to include the word "force".

Richard Benham
France
Local time: 15:50
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Richard, this force of dry friction has been defined explicitly (and denoted by Ff) and indicated in a figure.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alfredo Tutino: If the word "force" is necessary for reference to previous content, a possibility is to add it in parentheses, e.g "through dry friction (force Ff)"
19 hrs
  -> Thanks. Good suggestion!
agree  Hamid Sadeghieh
1 day 43 mins
  -> Thanks, HS!
agree  Michael Barnett
1 day 3 hrs
agree  Jörgen Slet
3 days 9 hrs
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