FIVE PHYSICS EQUATIONS
- waclaw_koscielniak
- Jan 24
- 2 min read
Let's look closely at the Wired article by Rhett Allain on Five Physics Equations Everyone Should Know.
1) Newton's Second Law
It seems acceptable in most cases, except when velocities approach the speed of light c. It has been valid since 1687. Newton was an absolute genius.
2) The Wave Equation
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert did a good job. Still valid.
The maximum speed of light c is assumed to be constant. This is probably not true. Maxwell did not have data to make that assumption. All he had came from places very close to Earth. The Universe is enormous, and most of it remains unknown to us. How could anyone possibly know what the speed of light there is?
Those equations should be referred to as Maxwell-Heaviside equations. Maxwell devised a gibberish form of equations; later, Heaviside cleaned up his mess and made it more tractable.
The main problem with this equation is that the wave function describing particle behavior has no physical meaning. Only the magnitude squared has physical meaning. There are not many similar cases in science. This equation is not compatible with Einstein's general relativity theory. At least one of them is likely to be wrong. Or, perhaps both of them are wrong.
This equation also violates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The equation suggests that a solution for any particle's momentum, position, energy, and time can be found. However, this is not true because of restrictions imposed by Heisenberg.
It's an area of opportunity for you.
Einstein followed Maxwell's lead and assumed that c is constant.
It's experimentally confirmed that a small mass can be equivalent to significant energy because of the c^2 multiplier, for example, during the explosion of a nuclear bomb or inside a nuclear reactor, and, of course, inside stars. But the opposite is not valid. A very high energy will not produce a small mass because m ≠ E/c^2. In most cases, it will not produce anything. Smashing together neutrons traveling at high velocities would not produce electrons with a negative charge. From Einstein's equation, this should work, but it never does because where would the negative charge come from?
This equation is only partially true. It's an opportunity to devise a more elegant approach and discard Einstein's outdated ideas.
More on Einstein's famous equation here and why it is most likely wrong.
Based on Webb telescope data, the Universe seems to be expanding at a higher rate than it should have based on theory. All existing theories assume constant c everywhere, which probably is not valid.
What do you think?