A radio transmitter vibrates violently, kicking up the energy of nearby low energy photons. Some of these excited photons hit a receiver in the distance, which starts vibrating in response.
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| Radio transmission |
Clearly, the transmission of energy from transmitter to receiver is an example of action at a distance. Equally clearly, this is done by the help of photons. The idea that the electromagnetic force is made manifest through the exchange of photons is therefore not completely wrong, and at closer inspection, all transmission of energy may very well be done in a similar way to that of the radio transmitter and receiver.
When I lift a cup up from the table, I act as the transmitter and the cup is the receiver. Energy flows from my body to the cup. The transmission mechanism may be the exchange of photons. When I set a ball rolling by kicking it, there is also a transmission of energy. Whenever energy is transmitted from one body to another, photons may be involved to facilitate the transfer.
However, in this model photons only come into play when there is an actual transfer of energy. The continuous pull on my body through gravity is not due to an exchange of photons, and as explained earlier, a free falling body is not receiving any energy from anywhere. Such a body is merely transforming its potential energy to kinetic energy. It is not before that body hits the ground that it exchanges energy with the body that pulled it.
The tension between me and Earth is not due to an exchange of photons, nor is the tension inside a charged capacitor, or the pressure between two statically charged balloons. The tensions that keep atoms and molecules together are not due to any exchange of particles either.
The mystery is not the exchange of energy. It is the tensions and pressures of the electromagnetic field that is the mystery. When there is no exchange of energy, why is there still tension and pressure in the void between bodies? The answer to these and similar questions may lie in the existence of an aether, and a body of physics related to this hypothetic substance.
When I lift a cup up from the table, I act as the transmitter and the cup is the receiver. Energy flows from my body to the cup. The transmission mechanism may be the exchange of photons. When I set a ball rolling by kicking it, there is also a transmission of energy. Whenever energy is transmitted from one body to another, photons may be involved to facilitate the transfer.
However, in this model photons only come into play when there is an actual transfer of energy. The continuous pull on my body through gravity is not due to an exchange of photons, and as explained earlier, a free falling body is not receiving any energy from anywhere. Such a body is merely transforming its potential energy to kinetic energy. It is not before that body hits the ground that it exchanges energy with the body that pulled it.
The tension between me and Earth is not due to an exchange of photons, nor is the tension inside a charged capacitor, or the pressure between two statically charged balloons. The tensions that keep atoms and molecules together are not due to any exchange of particles either.
The mystery is not the exchange of energy. It is the tensions and pressures of the electromagnetic field that is the mystery. When there is no exchange of energy, why is there still tension and pressure in the void between bodies? The answer to these and similar questions may lie in the existence of an aether, and a body of physics related to this hypothetic substance.
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