Repulsion of like charges

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by PhilJ</i>
<br />Maybe the key to understanding repulsive forces lies in the sign attached to the mass of the agent which produces the force.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">What would a "negative mass" mean physically? Repulsive and attractive forces are most easily explained as isolated pushes and gaps in continuous pushes, respectively. If the absence of matter in a continuum meant negative matter, then how do you propose to explain anti-particles? -|Tom|-

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">What would a "negative mass" mean physically? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Simply insert a minus sign wherever "mass" occurs in quantity. In vectors, that would most likely indicate the opposite direction. Conceivably, reversed direction could be equivalent to reversed time. No case comes to mind in which you have a square root of mass; if you do, it would give you an imaginary-number value. I wouldn't know how to interpret that; I don't even understand how engineers use imaginary numbers in bridge designs.

Presumably, these negative-mass agents of electrostatic charge would not be affected by CG's, and therefore would have no weight. If they do have weight, it would be upward, since the momentum of a positive-mass CG would cause them to rebound in the direction opposite to the way positive-mass particles rebound.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Repulsive and attractive forces are most easily explained as isolated pushes and gaps in continuous pushes, respectively. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

"Isolated pushes and gaps in continuous pushes" have yet to lead you to an explanation of repulsion of like charges. With negative-mass agents, you have isolated pulls and gaps in continuous pulls.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">If the absence of matter in a continuum meant negative matter, then how do you propose to explain anti-particles? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I'm not talking about an absense of matter. This is matter with negative mass. As for anti-particles, I'm not at all sure. I think some, or all, of them have been described as resembling their ordinary-particle counterpart moving backward in time. Perhaps you could explain them as having negative mass, instead.

I doubt if anyone has established whether anti-particles have ordinary weight, since you would have a hard time getting enough anti-matter in one lump to weigh it. If they are just now claiming to detect quantum verticle motion of neutrons; they must be a long way from observing similar effects in anti-particles. Do you know anything about weighing anti-particles; do they just assume that they have positive weight, or have they unequivocally observed it?

P.S.: What about annihilation of matter/antimatter? I suppose, if you combined a positive-mass particle with an equal negative-mass particle, you might get a particle with no mass--or maybe you would get no particle and a release of some form of energy equal to the combined matter. It is counter-intuitive to assume that negative mass is equivalent to negative energy. Perhaps the formula should be E = abs (mc^2).

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by PhilJ</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">[tvf]: What would a "negative mass" mean physically?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Simply insert a minus sign wherever "mass" occurs in quantity.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">That is a mathematical answer. I asked what it would mean physically. Many things are possible in math that are meaningless or impossible in physics.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">"Isolated pushes and gaps in continuous pushes" have yet to lead you to an explanation of repulsion of like charges.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">The problem there is we have too many possible explanations, and need to find ways to eliminate all but one. We are not in need of another alternative.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I'm not talking about an absense of matter. This is matter with negative mass.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Again, don't talk math, talk physics. What could that possibly mean? I was trying to help you by suggesting "absence of mass from a continuum".

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">As for anti-particles, I'm not at all sure. I think some, or all, of them have been described as resembling their ordinary-particle counterpart moving backward in time. Perhaps you could explain them as having negative mass, instead.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">"Backwards in time" violates causality, and is an excellent example of something possible in math but impossible in physics. It requires an effect without an antecedent cause, which is a form of magic forbidden as an explanation in physics.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Do you know anything about weighing anti-particles; do they just assume that they have positive weight, or have they unequivocally observed it?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Allegedly, they have positive mass but opposite charge from their ordinary matter counterparts. -|Tom|-

I've been thinking about how a macro-size negative-mass object might behave, and perhaps I thought a little too far out of "the box". My intuition seems to lead toward paradoxes. Would a negative-mass object's temperature be on the wrong side of absolute zero? Would a negative-mass bullet accelerate down the barrel faster as the gas pressure increases to infinity? Would you throw a negative-mass baseball by pulling it toward you? Would the ball and bat accelerate toward eachother faster as the force between them increases? Would energy be conserved as mv^2 or as abs(mv^2)? Would there be a release of energy when equal positive and negative masses annhilate eachother, or would both simply disappear without a trace?

On the micro level, it seems less problematic, so please put this concept in your unconscious and let it grow there. Have I wasted your time or given you a fun exercise to play with?

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Would you throw a negative-mass baseball by pulling it toward you? Would the ball and bat accelerate toward each other faster as the force between them increases?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I believe this question was answered in an old Gyro Gearloose comic book of mine where he was being strongarmed by both the north end and south end of town baseball teams to come up with an invention to assure their victory in the coming game. He invented a baseball that repelled the bat for one team and a bat that would attract the ball for the other. When the first batter came out the bat whipped out of his hand and both bat and ball were whirling around each other in the air. Gyro skipped town while this was going on.

Seriously you might search around for some articles of the late Robert Forward where he made many speculations about the properties of negative mass.