I understand that particles have different "charges" positive and negative. But what EXACTLY (if we know) causes particles of like charge to be repelled from one another.
It seems to me that they're exerting some kind of outward pressure or something in all directions. Such that, when these pressures collide, they kick back (each action has an equal and opposite reaction), thus keeping the particles themselves from ever completely colliding.
But do we know the MECHANISM by which this happens? Say we have two electrons, and we try to push them together, their electrical charge keeps them apart, and the more we try to push them together, likely the stronger they're pushed apart. But WHY? Or is this one of those "you could base your PhD on it" type questions?
Might I make an analogy to an electric circuit?
Take magnetic force lines
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/magnetIt seems like the lines always flow in a specific direction, and essentially want to form a circuit.
However, if you take two equal magnets, and put them in opposite directions such that the same poles line up facing each other, you get a VERY strong repulsive force. Often if you leave the magnets alone, one of them will flip, so that the opposite poles line up, at which point the magnets snap together withc equally powerful force.
Makes me wonder if poles being misalinged is like disrupting a current flow in a circuit? But I don't know enough about engineering to know what happens. Still, it makes for an interesting analogy (to me). But I don't know if I'm anywhere close to ebing right. It just seems like the "magnets" want to complete the circuit, or correct the imbalance of flow created when their fields collide north-north rather than flowing north-south
To clarify, I understand that opposites attract and like charges repel. That's neither here nor there, so I don't need schooling in that basic fact. What I'm wondering is the $16,000,000 question: why? What CAUSES them to be repelled? I mean one could make analogies to pressurized system, and when they bounce off each other they get more compressed, more energetic and push back harder, etc.
I'm just wondering what the mechanism for the "push" is. What's the underlying mechanic that makes the universe tick.
It sounds like this is a field of active research and nobody's quite sure yet on the most basic "why." But any additional theories or good analogies, or even SOURCES would be appreciate.
(& I've seen wiki articles on magnets, and a little on electron "spin" but nothing that's really explained the underlying principle of "why." We can describe its effect, but seemingly not yet its cause?)
Okay, intereting thought about quantum-electrodynamics. I think I've decided that I don't believe in QED, and QED folks really have no clue so they make things up that violate rules, but then suddenly "become real" if someone actually looks at them. It's like saying, "Well, really, we have no clue what's going on."
In my opinion, either a thing is real or it isn't real. Just because we can't measure a particle without changing its trajectory doesn't make it "not real" or whatever. Uncertainty only regards our ability to measure, not a physical characteristic. It's a statistical model. But math a physical model does not make. Just my opinion of course.
I mean saying, "well, it can't do this" but "it does do this" is contradictory. It can't both do it an not do it. Either it does it or it doesn't. Something physically happened, a cause caused an effect. Whether we observed it or not does not change the fact that it happened. I think people are getting math confused with physicks. m=\=p
What was it they said? Something to the effect of "They wrote the most elegant equations to describe how plasma work. Sadly, the only ones who didn't believe the equations were the plasmas. No matter how hard the physicists cajoled, the plasmas simply refused to obey the formulas."
A formula or a theory is only as good as its predictive capability. ;o]
But that's neither here nor there.
Bob O:
An interesting insight. I wouldn't mind a little elaboration.
That actually makes a bit of sense, I think. Though I'd need to hear more to put it into a workable framework.
If I can synthesize what I'm hearing so far, I understand that light is an electromagnetic wave. And that charged particles can take part in an excited exchange that results in emitting photons. And that when a photon is absorbed it may change the energy level and velocity (speed/position) of the particle it interacts with.
And really we could just state this as the act of exchanging electromagnetic waves, plus the effect of the exchange.
So, really we do basically live in an electromagnetic universe. ;o]
But, okay, I guess I'm not quite sure of the full dynamic yet. Basically, we've got particles interacting with waves. We know that waves can either constructively or destructively interfere. But do protons emit photons? They'd have to, right, if their repulsive force works the same way as electrons?
Also, I thought photons were only emitted when electrons jumped between sheel levels. Or is it that photons are only emitted externally, or strongly enough to escape the atom, during orbital jumps?
Are we saying that they do emit photons even when not jumping between shells, just not strongly enough to ESCAPE the atom?
Holy cr@p. Umm, okay, that puts a totally different spin on atomic dynamics. What if an atom is structured much the same way the sun is, with highly charged particles circling the outside layer(s) in a relatively stable electromagnetic field that constricts where the electrons and photons flow, as well as the scale of the electromagnetic waves generated. But when the waves get sufficiently turbulent, a wave is generated that is large enough to create a prominence or solar flare, ejecting matter along a filamentary path, along electromagnetic force lines?
What if the same process happens inside an atom?? The waves are constricted and confined within the atom by the electromagnetic forces involved, but when sufficiently perturbed, the waves are "ejected" in the form of a larger photon (or electromagnetic wave) sufficiently energetic to escape the internal pulls and pressures of the atom?
Basically, we could have an exchange of "weak" photons internally to the atom or between specific particles. Photons (or just electromagnetic waves) not strong enough to be ejected, but strong enough to interact with and thereby alter the path/velocity of other particles?
And we could say that particles with the same "charge" have the same waveform, thus constructively interfere so as to separate particles of the same charge (the closer they get, the more they reinforce each other's waves, the more they force each other apart). Whereas particles with opposite "charge" have different or inverse wave fucntions, such that they destructively interfere...
Thus destructive interference collapses their waveform (the force keeping them apart) and they are thus attracted to each other. However, in an atom, this would mean that possibly if one electron and one proton were to get near each other they'd tend to interfere with each other in such a way as to be drawn together. But sicne you get multiple atoms all together, they try this, but the like charges of electrons will reinforce each other sufficiently to keep from being pulled in too close to the protons...
Wee, nothing like a radical understanding shift. Obviously there are other forces involved. But this is an interesting way to think of it, in terms of wave interference... opposite waves tend to cause both waves to diminish, whereas similar waves tend to reinforce or get stronger...
Must ponder more! Thanks for a nudge in an interesting direction.
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