- 3015 - CONSTANTS - light to fine structure? The strangest thing about the Universal Constants is that if any were even slightly different we would not be here. If the Fine Structure Constant were to change even 4% carbon would not be produced in stellar fusion. If it were 1% instead of 0.7% all fusion would not take place in stars. Universal Constants are strange numbers but you can thank your lucky stars they are what they are.
---------------------- 3015 - CONSTANTS - light to fine structure?
- One of the reasons that Einstein came up with the Theory of Relativity was that he assumed that physics was the same for everyone, everywhere, all the time and regardless of their relative motion.
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- If we all see everything the same regardless of how fast we are moving than the speed of light must be constant at all times. Without going further with that idea, there are other Universal Constants in the Universe besides the constant 299,792,458 meters per second that electromagnetic energy travels in a vacuum.
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- There is the constant force of gravity, G = 6.678*10^-11 meters^3 / (kilogram*second^2).
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- There is the constant mass for all electrons Electron mass = 9.10938188*10^-31 kilograms.
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- All of these constants show up as weird numbers because man invented the units we are using. Meters, kilograms, seconds are units that have been arbitrarily chosen sometime in our history. These units have become standards of measurement. Physicists would like to get away from these units if they can discover or invent something better.
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- Regardless of units, Physicists can not explain why Natural Constants are the size they are. However, they have come to realize that if the sizes changed only in the slightest amount the Universe could not exist as we know it. Somehow, Lord knows, we have a rare combination of Universal Constants that allow consciousness to evolve so we can read about and think about these things.
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- One way Physicists have to get around these units is to use ratios that cancel out the units and leave the number unitless. There are many examples of these ratios. One is the ratio of the mass of a proton to that of an electron. It is 1,836.
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- Every atom, everywhere, has a proton in the nucleus and an electron in the shell that has a mass ratio equal to 1,836. It is the same as saying that all protons are the same and all electrons are the same in all the atoms. A more complex ratio that is used is the Fine Structure Constant.
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- The Fine Structure Constant defines the electromagnetic strength holding an electron and a proton together in the atom. It is the Constant strength of the interaction between the two. It is always 0.007 or 1/137. A unitless number. The ratio to calculate it is quite complicated:
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------------------- Fine Structure Constant = e^2 * c * mu / 2 * h
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------------------ where: “e”, “c’, “ mu”, and “h” are still other Universal Constants:
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----------------- “e” = the electric charge of every electron
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----------------- “e” = 1.6*10^-19 coulombs
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----------------- “c” = the constant speed of light in a vacuum
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----------------- “c” = 2.99792458 * 10^8 meters per second
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----------------- “mu” = vacuum permeability
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----------------- “mu” = 8.85 * 10^-12 coulombs^2 / kilogram*meters^3/sec^2
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----------------- “h” = Planck Constant
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----------------- “h” = 6.63*10^-34 joule*seconds
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- h = Planck Constant of Action is a constant of proportionality between energy and the frequency of oscillation of photons. The energy in all electromagnetic radiation carried by photons is directly proportional to the radiation’s frequency of oscillation.
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---------------- E = h*f
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- Radio waves have a low energy. X-rays and Gamma rays have a high energy. These waves are made up of photons that carry individual quantum’s of energy. The units for the Planck Constant of Action is energy times time/cycle, or, joules* seconds. These units for Action can also be expressed as Momentum * Distance.
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------------------- h = 6.62606896*10^-34 joule*seconds
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------------------- h = 4.13566733*10^-15 electron volts * seconds.
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- “mu” = Vacuum Permeability = the magnetic constant. It defines the value of a magnetic field strength in a vacuum. A magnetic field occurs when an electric charge is in motion. It can not be measured because you can not have an electric current in a perfect vacuum.
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- “eo” = Vacuum Permittivity = the electric constant.
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- “eo” = 8.854187817*10^-12 coulomb^2 / kg*m^3/sec^2
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- Something very strange happens with the product of these two numbers.
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---------------mu * eo = 1/c^2
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--------------- c^2 * mu * eo = 1
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- When Maxwell first saw that the products of electric permittivity and magnetic permeability was related to the reciprocal of the speed of light squared he realized for the first time that light was a form of electromagnetic radiation.
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- The moving electric wave creates a transverse moving magnetic wave which in turn creates another moving electric wave and so on at 186,000 miles per second velocity and at whatever the frequency of oscillation.
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- “c” = the speed of light is a constant with anything having zero rest mass. A photon has zero mass, therefore, it can only exist when it is traveling at light speed, 3*10^8 meters per second.
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- Now, these definitions are circular reasoning. The meter is defined as the distance light travels in 1 / 299,792,458 seconds. Regardless of how we got the number it is Constant. Further information can not travel faster than this constant speed.
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- Also, regardless of relative motion the speed of information coming back from the Moon takes 3 minutes. Light from the Sun takes 8 minutes. Information back from Mars takes 10 minutes. All the information light brings to us happened sometime in the past. If you get it from galaxies it could be millions of years old. If it comes from Quasars it could be billions of years old.
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- If you create a ratio of these constants to get a unitless number the Fine Structure Constant becomes:
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------------------- Fine Structure Constant = approx. 1 / 137
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------------------- Fine Structure Constant = approx. 0.007
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------------------- Fine Structure Constant = 7.297352570*10^-3
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- Physicists call this a Coupling Constant for Electromagnetism. In the interaction between the proton and the electron in the atom it is the constant ratio of the velocity of the electron in the first circular orbit to the speed of light in a vacuum.
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- It is the ratio of the maximum angular momentum allowed by relativity for an electron in a closed atomic orbit to the minimum angular momentum allowed by Quantum Mechanics. (These last two ratios are over my head.) If we compare the Coupling Constants for the other three forces :
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------------------- Strong Force = 1
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------------------- Electromagnetic Force = 1 / 137
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------------------- Weak Force = 10^-6
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------------------- Gravity Force = 10^-39
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- Gravity by far has the weakest Coupling Constant. A Coupling Constant is simply defined as a strength of an interaction.
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- The strangest thing about these Universal Constants is that if any were even slightly different we would not be here. If the Fine Structure Constant were to change even 4% carbon would not be produced in stellar fusion. If it were 1% instead of 0.7% all fusion would not take place in stars.
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- Universal Constants are strange numbers but you can thank your lucky stars they are what they are.
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February 2, 2021 CONSTANTS - light to fine structure? 948 3015
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--------------------- --- Tuesday, February 2, 2021 ---------------------------
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