No Subject

[T.L.G.vanderLinden@student.utwente.nl (Timothy van der Linden)]

Hi Steve,

Imagine two electrically charged plates, both the positively charged.
These two plates are on top of each other in a gravitational field:


      +++++++++++++++++++ Plate 1
                                   gravity force
                                         ||
      +++++++++++++++++++ Plate 2        \/
-------------------------------- 
//////////////////////////////// Solid floor

Q:Why do the plates stay apart?
A:Because of the electrical field.

Q:But what is an electrical field and how does it propagate?
A:Photons are the cariers of the electrical field.

Q:So there are photons going up and down the plates?
A:Yes and no, there are virtual photons going up and down.

Q:What are virtual photons?
A:These are photons that have a momentum that does not correspond to its energy.
  They can exist due to the uncertainty principle: dp*dx=h/(4 pi)

What am I trying to say? Although this situation is static (the amount of
virtual photons going up equals the amount going down) there is an exchange
of something.

One could also say that there is just a electric field, but even then there
should be something that keeps the field the way it is.

It may be that this is one of the things why Kelly has a hard time
understanding that it no energy is released when an object is standing on
the floor.

>>> If a static structure had to dissipate energy continuously to
>>> remain standing, where would such energy come from?  Why doesn't
>>> your house fall down?  Where are the batteries?
>> 
>>The energy is coming from the gravitational attraction of the earth. It is
>>disapated as heat in the structure of the house. In a structure under heavy
>>loads (too heavy) you can feel the heat in the structure.
>
>Really?  So when does the earth run out of gravity?

Of course Kelly is wrong, but one could say that there is an exchange
(of energy?) between the house and the Earth.

The total exchange is of course zero, but in the mean time a lot of
interactions are going on.

Saying that there would happen nothing would not make much sense, because
then Kelly is right asking what keep space-time curved.

Timothy

P.S. This letter is only send to you.