Natural Science Forum / Physics / New Theories / August 2004

Is There a Force of Gravity?

    In undergraduate physics, the Newtonian concept of an attractive force
between masses that is proportional to the product of the masses divided by the
square of their separation is taught. When one advances to the more advanced
concepts of gravitational theory as posed by General Relativity, the concept
seems to change to where what we experience as a force is really the result of
an inertial acceleration in "space-time".

    It behooves us then to examine that concept in detail. Consider two points
on the Earth, perhaps London, England and Melbourne, Australia. In both of
these cities, observers experience a downward "pull " towards the Earth's
center. (We can ignore the centrifugal acceleration caused by Earth's rotation
since, at the most, it represents only 0.3% of the Earth's gravitational
acceleration and consider the Earth to be a closed system for the purposes of
the discussion, all velocities and accelerations are relative to the center of
the Earth and, since both London and Melbourne are nominally at the same
elevation which does not change, considerations of time dilation in the
gravitational field are irrelevant. These clarifications are required because a
pair of individuals whose thinking processes were limited attempted clouds the
discussion by introducing them in response to a previous posting.) Inertial
acceleration is defined as the second derivative of position with respect to
time, and since London and Melbourne are within the closed reference frame
represented by the Earth they do not change their separation with respect to
each other but they do experience the force of gravity as acting in essentially
opposite directions. Since are observed not to undergo spatial acceleration
with respect to each other and the center of the Earth, that observed force of
gravity CANNOT result from an inertial acceleration. It can only result from an
actual force attracting those cities towards the Earth's center in accordance
with the classical Newtonian concept of gravity. It cannot result from a
spatial acceleration in "space-time" as is asserted by specious interpretations
of both Special and General Relativity. The force is REAL. It is much more than
a mathematical abstraction!

    In response to a previous posting of this material, the writer received an
E-Mail claiming that the writer was in error. It asserted that Melbourne and
London were really in a "flattened" orbits around the center of the Earth and
experienced the "force" if gravity because they were restrained from following
their null geodesic orbits by the Earth's surface. What appeared to be the
"force" of gravity resulted from that restraint because it prevented these two
cities from following their null geodesic path? This is a rather frivolous
response. If the cities were to fall through the Earth, the inertial force
produced by the resulting second derivative of position with respect to time
and the gravitational force would cancel and the cities would experience no net
force. The attractive force that they actually experience verifies that
gravitational force and inertial acceleration are different phenomena
describing TWO effects, gravitational attraction and inertial acceleration.
There is no way of avoiding the conclusion that the former applies a force as
the result of the proximity of masses and inertial acceleration applies a force
as a result of the second derivative of position with respect to time. It is
only in the never-never world which mathematics allows one to be foolish enough
to consider that they were different aspects of the same phenomena.

    As a digression, the interchange of electric and magnetic energy in a
resonant circuit is conventionally treated as a single phenomena and treated by
a single set of mathematics, as is the interchange of potential energy and
kinetic energy when an object is in orbit. In actuality, in the resonant
circuit, the energy is alternately stored in a capacitor as an electric stress
in its dielectric and is stored in the inductor in its magnetic lines of force.
The actions of both of these devices are independently described by their own
mathematical laws. It is only when they are connected together do their laws
combine to provide an action we experience as resonance in which energy is
cyclicly interchanged between the two devices. I can hold a charged capacitor
in one hand and an inductor in the other hand. It is only when they are
connected together that resonance occurs. The same conculsion holds true for
gravitation. Gravitation forces and acceleration forces are independent effects
which, when coupled, account for orbits as if a single process were involved.
The orbital motion results from the cyclical interchange of energy between the
two independent effects.

    Mathematics is a useful tool, but it seems to have been forgotten that it
is only a tool, it should never be used as a substitute for the intelligence
needed to understand of the “mechanism(s)” involved. Physics seems to be
the only science that attempts to abolish "mechanism" and rely solely on
mathematics and experiment. This probably results from the fact that
understanding the "mechanisms" which are involved requires an innate talent
that probably cannot be taught in schools and is as rare as the musical
aptitude which allows an individual to play a violin in Carnegie Hall. It is no
wonder that physicists work so hard to relegate the idea of "mechanism" to the
trash bin of history. It avoids the embarrassment of admitting that they do not
understand their subject.

    The source material for this posting may be found in "Gravity" (1987),
"The Einstein Hoax" (1997), and "Corrections to Residual Errors in Special
Relativity (1999) located at http://www.members.aol.com/einsteinhoax/site.htm.
EVERYTHING WHICH WE ACCEPT AS TRUE MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH EVERYTHING ELSE WE
HAVE ACCEPTED AS TRUE, IT MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH ALL OBSERVATIONS, AND IT MUST
BE MATHEMATICALLY VIABLE. PRESENT TEACHINGS DO NOT ALWAYS MEET THIS
REQUIREMENT. THE WORLD IS ENTITLED TO A HIGHER STANDARD OF WORKMANSHIP FROM
THOSE IT HAS GRANTED WORLD CLASS STATUS.

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