From: helbig@asclothestro.multivax.de   
      
   In article , Luigi Fortunati   
    writes:   
      
   > Based on what you yourself write, an extended body (without external   
   > constraints) in remote space is entirely in free fall in every single   
   > particle (none excluded), while the same extended body that falls into a   
   > well on the Earth, is not entirely in free fall because (almost) all its   
   > own particles (although without external constraints) bind each other!   
   >   
   > All of this confirms what I wrote: free fall near gravitational masses   
   > is *different* from free fall in remote space.   
      
   The difference is that tidal effects have to be taken into account near   
   gravitational masses.  All such discussions explicitly or implicitly   
   assume that the tidal effects are "small enough".  In other words, in   
   the limit of arbitrarily small tidal effects, the two are equivalent.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)