Feeling Gravity

To get a feel for why particles tend to attract one another one can start with a few simple particles and move towards what looks like an infinite number of particles in a large mass. When there are few particles involved the phenomenon is known as the London force. The London force shows that seemingly inert or non-bonding atoms will still attract one another.

The London forces have been simulated. Electrons moving at one percent the speed of light repel each other much faster than their nucleus repel each other. Electrons neutrons and protons fill in where the electron was ejected. This forces the neutrons and protons together with the electrons circulating.

The same phenomenon repeats itself in a linear manner as a mass of particles grows. It never hurts to underline just how many particles a mass has. One kilogram of a given material may have more than ten to the twenty atoms in it. The vast number of particles with a linear growth in attractive forces due to the asymmetry between electrons and their ionic nucleus make for a 'weak attraction' known as gravity.

The tendency towards the center of mass will be for the electrons to interact and be ejected towards the periphery of the mass. Meanwhile the charge balance theorem and the missing mass from the ejected electron will force electrons, neutrons and protons towards the center of mass in what is known as the 'weak force'.

Buoyancy and Particle Size as it Relates to Gravity

An old birthday trick has us filling a balloon with Helium. The Helium displaces a large volume of space with a light mass causing a low density. Relatively speaking there exists a vacuum where we find a concentration of Helium inside the balloon. Pressure is exerted on all boundaries of the relative vacuum known as our birthday balloon. There is more pressure at the bottom of the balloon and the low density balloon rises.

In the case of a helium balloons the inside of the balloon is filled with less dense single helium ions that associate themselves with two electrons. Outside the balloon we find Nitrogen diatomic molecules which are much more dense. Due to the large root mean squared speed of all of these molecules they find a buoyant balance very quickly. The balloon rises. This is the contrast between Helium and diatomic Nitrogen.

Electrons and ions of Silicon and iron exist in a veritable mesh in the Earth's mantle. The speed at which the electrons move with respect to the speed of the ions is fantastic. Ions stay still with a Brownian motion component whilst electrons dart about at one percent of the speed of light - root mean squared speed. The electron portion of the molecules that make up the Earth have a lower density. Electron charge pushes outwards from the center of mass while more massive ions or slower electrons will be pulled towards the center of mass.

Gravity and the Electron Distribution and how it is Additive

It has been observed under many circumstances that substances stick together. The nucleus of an atom, the plastic floating in the ocean and matter as a part of a planet or star tends to stick together. These different types of stick-together-edness may or may not be related.

Gravity and the semiconductor pn-diode may have something in common. If the n-doped portion of the diode is oriented towards the center of mass the p-doped portion might well model the relative expanse towards the outside or periphery of a mass. The electrons get squeezed and they form a depletion effect which means that the electrons are out of position in the mass structure with respect to the charge balance needed for the perfect equilibrium we all learned about in grade eleven chemistry class.

Slower moving protons, neutrons and electrons are drawn towards the center of mass through charge balance neutralization. This geometrically induced electromagnetic effect gives us what we see as gravity.

The electron depletion effect mentioned in the second paragraph is most pronounced towards the center of mass. Towards the outside of a large mass such as the Earth or the Sun we get a cumulative or additive effect of more and more electromagnetic pull that adds to the pressure felt at the surface of the center of mass.

The proportion of force that is exerted on an object can be seen by studying the volume and surface areas of a sphere or a cube. Surface integrals and volume integrals will give answers on the dynamics of the gravity force as it pertains to a mass such as the Earth.

Adding the products of the volume integrals from the center of a mass to the periphery of a mass gives us the answers we need to understand the pressures and densities observed in our solar system. These analyses can get quite complicated fast. Is the surface of a mass liquid or solid? What about the atmosphere? How does this affect gravity? Model this as buoyancy. Move forward with models considering liquids at the surface of an object the size of the sun.

The Magnet, Gravity and a Paper Clip

A popular publication asks the question; How is it possible for a magnet to pick up a paper clip against the force of gravity exerted by an entire planet?

This publication has trouble with large numbers and the interactions between the large numbers of fundamental particles involved. Magnetism and gravity work very differently and have been the subject of many of my blog posts. In previous posts I normally prefer to use Maxwell's equations with Heaviside's telegrapher's equations to make points about the real nature of electromagnetic interactions.

Ampere worked to give us a model for magnetism. If we spin electrons in the right way we will create a field of spinning electrons due to the interactions between electrons and the nucleus. The telegrapher's equations point to the mechanism by-which the electrons create spinning fields (L) and more linear electron fields (G and C). The spinning fields beget more positive ions that come in to charge balance the spinning electrons. Ampere's wires are thus forced apart.

Static magnets work in a very elegant manner. The magnet's ejected electrons are what some call the magnetic field. Really electrons are just moving in a circular manner determined by the magnet's electro-molecular geometry. When a magnet is flipped pi radians it's electrons have the opposite spin and the magnet is pointed in the opposite direction. Therefore, the magnet will attract the opposite pole of another magnet. The spinning electron field will line up atoms and molecules and the biggest and dense molecules of the opposing magnet will be attracted to charge-balance spinning electrons in a gas (or vacuum).

Gravity attracting matter has a more subtle explanation than the mechanical explanation as to how magnets attract. Gravity attracts slower moving matter and is an effective back-fill to electrons moving upwards. As matter attracts more matter to itself a positive feedback cycle is produced. Negative charged electrons will repel each other closer to the core of any mass. The escape route for this charge will always be towards the outer shell of the mass. There will be an acceleration of charge towards the outer shell of the mass. The electron ejected from the mass will need to be charge-balanced. This charge balance as ions of all sorts fall back towards the center of mass is what we feel as the force of gravity.

True understanding of the nature of the force of gravity rests on the understanding of how many molecules are involved. While a small number of molecules will exhibit the London Force ten to the twenty-fifth power number of molecules presents a stronger attraction depending on the specific electro-chemical interactions of the constituent molecules. Astro-physicists seem to write a lot about iron.

If paper-clips are the great mystery of physics perhaps we can put to rest the mechanism by-which a paper clip is attracted to a magnet against the force of gravity. Because the mechanisms of these two forces are so different the organized force around a magnet can overcome a very disorganized but statistically relevant force around an entire planet.

Gravity and Maxwell's Equations

Previous blog posts have looked at gravity as a combination of electromagnetism and geometry. Maxwell's equations are the vector calculus description of electromagnetism so it might occur to a physicist that Maxwell's equations can explain gravity. This is only partly true.

The two Maxwell-Gauss equations explain static fields and can get us part of the way towards explaining gravity. Maxwell's equations don't explain the fast moving root mean square speeds observed in electrons and nuclei.

Maxwell-Gauss' electricity equation explains how the fictional electric field works. The field lines in an exaggerated sphere will tend to diverge as the observer moves from the center of mass.

Maxwell-Gauss' magnetism equation explains how the fictional magnetic field works. In reality the magnetic field simply represents the spinning of electrons as they travel through space. The field lines in an exaggerated sphere will tend to have a density that is lower as the observer moves from the center of mass.

Where electric fields converge we find a complicated mix of alternating positive and negative fields. Electrons in close proximity will tend to flee the relative convergence of a dense portion of matter near the center of a mass. Towards the periphery of a mass the opposite is true. Mass tends to seek charge balance and gravity takes the form of particles spinning back towards the center of mass. It is highly likely that the return to the center of mass happens more slowly and with more bumps than the ejection of particles; most notably beta particles.

Magnetic fields are orthogonal to electric fields. Where the magnetic field lines are found to be more dense we find an environment that is ready to impart potential energy to particles. This will happen, most readily, to the small and fast electrons rather than the ions in the nucleus. The ejected beta particles will eventually collide with other electrons or, less likely, with the nucleus of a particle.

The electrons will travel away from the center of mass. The resultant pull due to the charge balance of the mass will yank particles of both 'charges' back towards the center of mass. It is this constant pull that constitutes the gravitational pull that we experience every day on Earth.

Depletion Layer and an Air Gap

It is interesting to consider the differences and similarities between the depletion layer or transition layer in a semiconductor and an air gap. This is important because for decades the mechanical relay used an air gap to produce an 'open circuit' output that would break the circuit and inhibit current flow. Now semiconductors can do the same thing using the depletion layer but exploring this part of a semiconductor takes a bit more imagination.

Imagination is needed because there aren't great descriptions of how the depletion layer works beyond a smoothing of the charge balances between 'positive' and 'negative' doped semiconductor regions. How do those charges jump around? Like the charge discussed in my posts on gravity, the depletion layer may see spark-like charge jumps and fuzzy-Gaussian charge movement akin to the boil seen in a kettle.

The spark-like carriers I write about are often termed hot carriers and although the Poisson - Gaussian statistical movements are not termed cool carriers, The term shot is often used in noise theory and has also been related to the Poisson arrivals in mathematics. Thinking hard about what electrons are doing statistically leads quickly to words like fuzzy vs. spiky.

Let us consider, more closely, the depletion layer of a standard Si diode that does not have Schottkey properties. The standard theory states that there is charge smoothing through the depletion layer. Doped Si on either side of of the p-n junction swaps sides causing the depletion layer to exhibit a neutral or opposing charge.

I'd like to see more research in this area of Poisson vs. Gauss statistics in the p-n junction. How does 1/f noise factor into the analysis? The p-n junction may have a kettle boil of charge that traverses the junction with a statistical equilibrium that causes the diode action. The incoming charge comes in hot and crosses the diode to the junction where it either piles on to the depletion layer or in fires right through relatively hot (though nothing like the Schottkey diode). Diodes behave differently depending on whether or not they are forward or reverse biased.

A full comparison to the air gap in a relay will have to wait for a future blog post. It is enough to say, right now, that when the incoming carriers pile into the diode they are under what people our size might term - incredible pressure. At the electron feature size particles behave differently. The growth of the depletion layer due to incoming carriers leads to what I would estimate is a Gaussian or fuzzy electron distribution. This kettle boil keeps the reversed biased diode 'gaped from conduction'. The depletion layer is not an air gap where arcs are prevented. The depletion layer provides a push back that mimics the air gap of an electro-mechanical relay.

Turbulence and Electron Flow

As stated on a previous post, turbulence and laminar flow are terms usually reserved for aerodynamics. Electrons flowing through a circuit might be said to exhibit turbulent or more graceful flow. During the graceful flow of molecules or electrons density can go up as the electrons are very well ordered. A turbulent flow of electrons consumes more space and draws in positive ions. This is the magnetic push observed between like poles of a magnet.

Question of the day: Can a proper Poisson related (shot pattern of multiple Poisson arrivals) cause light gravity to shift if the right number of electrons are moving with respect the the mass ratio of the electron to nucleus ratio? Light gravity could move shift and swirl without affecting heavy gravity. This would result in two different gravity constants for the same point of space close to a large mass such as a planet. Gravity could then not be said to be simply 9.8 m/s^2.