The Plague of Misidentification
Causality Part 15
In today's TPOM, we will be dipping our toes into one of the most essential disciplines ever devised. If you want to see reality and to understand the physical nature and operations of the things around you, then you must encounter and deal with the discipline known as physics.
Physics
The main goal of physics is to understand the universe and how it behaves. Physics deals with everything from the macro and micro realms, from atoms to quantum particles, from planets, stars, black holes, their formations and functions, and continual outcroppings of all things in the known universe. Physics is the study of physical phenomena.
Consider this definition:
"Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, and its main goal is to understand how the universe behaves." Wikipedia.
"Matter is the material substance that constitutes our whole observable universe, and it is the subject of study of physics. Physics, the basic physical science, studies objects ranging from the very small (using quantum mechanics) to the entire universe (using general relativity). It deals with the structure of matter and how the fundamental constituents of the universe interact." Encyclopedia Brittanica.
"The science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two, grouped in traditional fields such as acoustics, optics, mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism, as well as in modern extensions including atomic and nuclear physics, cryogenics, solid-state physics, particle physics, and plasma physics." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
"It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we say about nature."
Niels Bohr
The Issue
I can go on and on, finding definition after definition from valid sources and great physicist after great physicist. In the end, you would have strands to hang onto and then outlines of contradictions. The reason I listed Niels Bohr last is to drive home the point that even the most impactful, highly regarded physicists disagree with the sources and each other to varying degrees. Bohr, in his statement, is driving at a key thought at the center of the physical disciplines along with mathematics. Are these things we observe as we see and analyze them from whatever disciplinary lens we see them through? Or are those lenses part of the universe in that the operational code is what our thoughts are actually attending? Is mathematics discovered or created? Can the universe be accurately described through physics and mathematics?
Which of the above definitions is correct? You guessed it! All of them are correct, and it depends on your vector of approach to the discipline and subject in general. The subject matter of whether or not physics or mathematics are discovered or invented are subjects for a nested series within TPOM. My hope is that I will shed light on the subject matter and bring to you when the time is right, ideas that are worthy of and require deep investigation. For now, we are going to look at some basic definitions of terms used in physics and learn a little bit about how physicists look at our universe.
Matter
In its most fundamental expression, matter is what the known universe is composed of and all that it is composed of, as far as the physical sciences are concerned. When we deal with reality, we are dealing with matter, and there is no thing in the physical universe that you can point to that is not made up of matter. Quixotically, that also includes what physicists call "nothing," which is, in fact, something and, in most cases, many things.
Matter for our purposes and, in short, is nothing more or less than that which makes up all of the known universe(s). From the tiniest quantum particle to the largest planet, all we attend in these various strata of objects, their size, shape, form, etc., are all composed of constituent parts, which are matter. Thus, the whole is also matter in its end and its composition. It will not take long before we encounter other concepts that, at first glance, look as if they should be matter, but, in fact, they are something else altogether. For now, we can look forward to those discoveries.
We will deal with two types of matter in the initial stages.
Baryonic matter - is the type of matter that we encounter in daily life. This includes atoms of any sort. Baryonic matter can be broken down into sub-atomic particles called leptons (electrons, for example) and quarks (the building blocks of protons and neutrons). This type of matter interacts electromagnetically and gravitationally with radiation and other matter and is thus called luminous for those reasons.
Dark matter - a still yet theoretical form of matter that is not luminous and therefore gives off no radiation. Dark matter is essentially invisible by the nature of its composition. It is extremely difficult to detect, though it has been shown to exist, or at least the likelihood of it existing is probabilistically shown by factoring into known imbalanced equations that have troubled physicists. This has shown promise, and dark matter is considered a current viable option to explain much of the universe's behavior.
Weight & Mass
To a layman, weight and mass are the same things. To a physicist, they are two completely separate things, and both require perfect critical distinctions in order to build out the model of the universe so that it becomes a solid overlay or descriptor of the physical events that deal with these concepts of reality correctly.
Mass is the measure of the amount of mass held within a body. In physics, mass is denoted by using either m or M.
Weight is the measure of the amount of force acting on an object or mass due to acceleration resulting from or due to gravity. In physics, weight is denoted by W. Because weight has multiple components acting, it can be expressed as a formula. The formula is as follows: W = m * g.
A few things about mass:
Mass is a property of matter.
The mass of an object is the same no matter where the object is in the universe.
Therefore, mass does not change in regard to location.
Mass can never be zero.
Mass is a scalar quantity and, as such, has magnitude.
Mass is usually measured in grams or kilograms.
Since the advent of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, mass lost its absoluteness. It was seen to be interconvertible with energy and would increase significantly at high speeds.
A few things about weight:
Weight is a consequence of the universal law of gravitation.
As a result of all of the mass present in the universe, every point in the universe (space) has a property called the gravitational field. The gravitational field for said area is numerically equal to the acceleration of gravity at that particular point.
As a result of the above, weight is a product of the object's mass and the gravitational field or the acceleration of gravity at the point of location of the object.
The further away from the Earth you are, the less you weigh, though your mass stays the same.
If you were to go to Jupiter and weigh yourself, you would weigh significantly more. Why? Jupiter is so much larger than the Earth that you could fit over 1300 Earths within its boundaries. The size difference generates higher gravity and thus greater weight, though your mass would stay the same.
Comparing Jupiter to Earth concerning their respective gravitational force goes as follows: Gravity (eq., 1 bar) (m/s2) - Jupiter 24.79. Earth 9.80. Jupiter to Earth ratio = 2.530.
If you weigh 185 lbs. on Earth, generally speaking, then you would weigh roughly 467.50 on Jupiter. This was calculated using 9.81 for Earth rather than 9.80 (I will explain at a later time) as follows: 185 over 9.81 m/s(squared) * 24.79 m/s(squared) = 467.50 lbs.
Remember that the gravitational force is a field force when considering the above. Also, there is more to this than I have detailed above in that the representative components are subject to slight changes depending upon the needed level of accuracy. Meaning how many decimal points do we need to be calculated to in order to gain our required accuracy level? The above is generally correct and can be dialed in at a later time when we have the proper need, given our required level of sophistication.
Vectors
Vectors are quantities that have both a magnitude and a direction. Acceleration, force, and velocity are examples of vectors. Vectors are diagrammatically represented by an arrow whose length is proportional to its magnitude, and the arrow’s direction corresponds to the vector's direction. Two or more vectors can be added together, yielding a vector sum. Vectors may also be subtracted by taking a vector difference. This, as one would expect, is the inverse action of vector addition.
Scalar
A scalar is a variable quantity that cannot be resolved into components. Scalars are quantities that have magnitude only. Density, distance, mass, and speed are scalars. If you are driving your car at 180 mph down the autobahn, then the speed of 180 mph is a scalar. If you were to add a direction to that statement, e.g., 180 mph down the autobahn headed north, then that would be a vector. The vector quantity velocity is now present with the magnitude (180 mph) and the direction (north).
In physics, you are going to hear the terms vector and scalar often. Sometimes, the usage of those terms may initially seem confusing. If you take care to remember the above definitions, it will help you significantly in correctly differentiating the ways in which the terms are used in context.
Remember, we are just getting started with these concepts, so give yourself some time to think through them and reason with yourself about how they apply to the world. Use the other thinking tools and models to play around with these new critical distinctions that these terms help make, and you will not only learn a few things, but you may have some fun in the process.
Force
Force is any operating influence that produces or tends to produce a change in a physical quantity. Force has both magnitude and direction and is, therefore, a vector quantity. Force is a push or a pull that changes or tends to change the state of rest or uniform motion of an object or changes the direction or shape of an object. It causes objects to accelerate. Force is usually represented by the letter F and is expressed as N for Newton or a standard unit of force.
One Newton is defined as the force that is required to accelerate a mass of 1 kg by 1 m/s (squared) in the direction of applied force. Newton is the SI unit of force. Alterations in the condition state of any body can only be obtained via force. Force is calculated as follows: F = mass (m) * acceleration (a).
Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time. Acceleration is a vector quantity as it has both magnitude and direction. The formula for acceleration is as follows: final velocity - initial velocity/time, thus change in velocity/time.
Velocity
Velocity is the rate of change of an object’s position with respect to a frame of reference and time. Essentially, this means that said object is speeding in a specific direction. We need both magnitude and direction to define velocity, and thus, it is a vector quantity. If the object undergoes a change in magnitude or the direction in the velocity of the body, then the object is said to be accelerating. Speed tells us how fast the object is moving, and velocity tells us how fast and in what direction an object is moving.
Final Thoughts
Physics is the key to our understanding of reality as it is and not necessarily as we experience it through our physical senses. Some may think by this statement that I am saying physics is the ultimate way of understanding reality. That is not what I am saying. The point I am making is that physics returns to us accurate data about reality through which we can, when understood correctly, better discern the reality in which we live. There are other necessary disciplines that answer questions or ask questions that physics cannot deal with in essence but only in part. This fact means that there is more to reality than what can be physically measured. Such things exist in the thought space realm and potentially in the alternate physical space realm. The realm of alternate physical space is nothing more than a continuum of dimensionality that may or may not extend itself past mere physicality in the sense that physicists and those of other disciplines currently use the word. There will be more to come on this concept in future installments of TPOM.
We will continue.
BSR.