Impulses, free motion, force, tension and inertia

The laws of motion have been well understood for centuries. Newton wrote a book on it almost 500 years ago, and very little was left to describe after this. However, Newton never proposed a physical model for what was going on. His physics is entirely mathematical. No underlying mechanics is explained. He left this intentionally for others to explore.

Taking up Newton’s challenge, we will now investigate various phenomena related to motion and relate them back to our model. To do this, we will address the electron as our fundamental particle of inertial mass. Our macro world analogy for the electron will be the steel ball. Since we have as one of our premises that what’s going on at the subatomic is a direct reflection of what’s going on at the macro level, our steel ball analogy should be a very good fit for the electron.

With this in mind, let’s investigate the laws of motion in light of our model where everything has to be explained in terms of particles with 3 dimensions, size and texture:

Pressures, tensions and impulses

Starting with our steel ball, we note that it does not move if we put it carefully on a plane tabletop. To make it move, we have to apply force to it, and the force has to be applied unevenly. If evenly applied, there’s pressure or tension in the ball, but no motion. Any energy passed onto the ball is immediately lost when force is evenly released after first having been evenly applied. However, when applied unevenly, force applied in this manner results in both linear motion and an increase in energy.

From observations, we reach two conclusions:

• Force has to be unevenly applied for an object to absorb energy.
• Motion caused in this manner is always in the direction of force.

This can be explained in terms of our theory as follows:

1. An impulse applied to a steel ball will result in a pressure wave, progressing through the ball.
2. When the pressure wave reaches the far end of the steel ball, the ball expands by a tiny bit.
3. The pressure wave returns to restore the shape of the ball.
4. The shape is restored, but not its size.
5. The new centre of mass is a tiny bit to the far end of the ball.
6. To restore its shape, the ball moves in the direction of the new centre of mass.
7. Without any new impulse, the ball continues in its new state, slightly larger and moving in the direction of the impulse that set it going.

This explanation is based on the idea that all particles will by their nature return to their original shape. We offer no explanation for this tendency. However, we can point out that the optimal ratio between surface area and volume is a sphere. There is therefore a good mathematical explanation for our axiom.

Time and inertia

Bringing this argument down to the electron, we note that the complete process of adding energy to the electron involves a pressure wave that has to first traverse its surface from one end to the other, and then return back to the point of the original impulse in order to restore its shape.

Assuming that the pressure wave moves at the speed of light, we note that it takes one half unit time to make the forward journey. The return journey takes another half unit time. This means that energy transfers onto or off of electrons always take 1 unit time to complete. Our unit time is in other words something more than mere convention. It is tied directly up to energy transfers in the real world. Measured time and physical time is one and the same thing.

Inertia can also be explained. It is the time delay between impulse and completed energy transfer. This time delay is very small for an electron, and very little energy is required. However, for a steel ball the process has to involve all its constituent particles in order to complete. This requires more time. More energy is also required, because there are more particles over which to distribute the energy. Inertia becomes more noticeable. In the case of large trucks, ships and air-crafts, inertia becomes very noticeable.

Pilot waves as memory

The rest of this post can be found here.