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Author Topic:   Energy, does it matter?
2ice_baked_taters
Member (Idle past 5851 days)
Posts: 566
From: Boulder Junction WI.
Joined: 02-16-2006


Message 1 of 4 (460599)
03-16-2008 11:41 PM


I have an issue. It concerns where energy becomes a particle.
When is energy in given state of excitation officially a particle?
Or is "particle" simply a way we have come to describe energy in various forms when in fact it is all energy.
I have heard gravity and magnetism described as "virtual" matter.
Perhaps I should think of matter as energy that defines space?

Replies to this message:
 Message 3 by Son Goku, posted 03-17-2008 8:38 AM 2ice_baked_taters has replied

  
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Message 2 of 4 (460608)
03-17-2008 7:59 AM


Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

  
Son Goku
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Message 3 of 4 (460611)
03-17-2008 8:38 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by 2ice_baked_taters
03-16-2008 11:41 PM


Energy
First of all, you must ask yourself, what is energy?
This is one of the rare examples when your grade/primary school definition of energy is the correct one. Energy is the ability to do work and the total ability to do work is always conserved. It is nonsensical to speak of things being "made of energy". Nothing is made of its ability to do work.
Your other question is "when does something count as a particle?" The actual requirements are a bit technical. Basically, something counts as a particle when it transforms in the simplest possible way when viewed by different observers. That is, a particle is an object whose rules for relating its properties in one frame to its properties in another frame are as simple as they can possibly be.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by 2ice_baked_taters, posted 03-16-2008 11:41 PM 2ice_baked_taters has replied

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 Message 4 by 2ice_baked_taters, posted 03-18-2008 1:14 AM Son Goku has not replied

  
2ice_baked_taters
Member (Idle past 5851 days)
Posts: 566
From: Boulder Junction WI.
Joined: 02-16-2006


Message 4 of 4 (460689)
03-18-2008 1:14 AM
Reply to: Message 3 by Son Goku
03-17-2008 8:38 AM


Re: Energy
I knew this was gonna hurt.
Thank you for your reply.
I understand potential.
Potential is conserved.
Is it in the ballpark to say that "things" are potential in a given frame? quanta of potential.
What defines the frame?
I have asked this because the closer we look at "particles" the less matter we actually detect. We encounter fields or spheres of influence. Like the explanation of how quarks are supposed to be bound to form protons. I often here talk of virtual matter.
That's also why I asked about fields being matter of a sort.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by Son Goku, posted 03-17-2008 8:38 AM Son Goku has not replied

  
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