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What is matter? Does it really exist?
- Thread starter janesix
- Start date
Cooky
Veteran Member
It exists, yes. But our perception of it is based on the timeframe of our lifespan in comparison to how fast or slow matter actually moves.
...It could be, that the big bang occured 1 second ago, and we are just so small, that it seems like a long time. But matter may not last in any form for very long in the grand scheme of things.
So it exists, but does not remain the same.
Bob the Unbeliever
Well-Known Member
What is matter?
Easy: Energy that isn't moving at the speed of light.
There. Wasn't that easy?
Easy: Energy that isn't moving at the speed of light.
There. Wasn't that easy?
leov
Well-Known Member
Atom is 99.99999 ... % empty space, but I keep an open mind.
janesix
Active Member
What makes up the rest of the atom?
Historically this has always been a question that people have asked and have come up with philosophically based answers. Its been a subject of hot debate. More recently we have more ways of understanding the patterns that matter takes. The debate has changed about what matter is and whether it exists, but the debate is still raging. I'm partial to informational structural realism, the idea that everything we see and all of time is real in the way that numbers are; that's hard for some to except who believe numbers are made up. It does neatly explain our existence though to say that actually we don't exist; but demonstrating that conclusively has never been accomplished nor its opposite arguments. This is what string theory people and quantum theory people talk about sometimes, mathematicians and theoretical physicists and so forth. I think the best answer is that it doesn't matter whether we really exist or are instead more like a pattern of existence. Perhaps the idea of existence is only that -- an idea, but does that matter to us?
leov
Well-Known Member
Spinning electrons about centrer
Matter is energy in physical form.
You mean, matter doesn't matter?
Matter is that part of the physical world that is made from first generation fermions.
In other words, up and down quarks plus electrons.
Since protons are two up and a down quark and neutrons are two downs and an up, this makes protons and neutrons 'matter'. Along with electrons, this makes all atoms 'matter'.
Because matter is made from fermions, it 'takes up space' (fermions don't like to be in the same quantum states as each other, which means they spread out).
Examples of physical 'things' that are not matter: anything made from strange, charm, top, or bottom quarks, anything that is made from bosons (light, other force carriers).
Matter is NOT just energy going slower than light since even bosons can be massive but don't have some of the classical properties that defined matter.
In other words, up and down quarks plus electrons.
Since protons are two up and a down quark and neutrons are two downs and an up, this makes protons and neutrons 'matter'. Along with electrons, this makes all atoms 'matter'.
Because matter is made from fermions, it 'takes up space' (fermions don't like to be in the same quantum states as each other, which means they spread out).
Examples of physical 'things' that are not matter: anything made from strange, charm, top, or bottom quarks, anything that is made from bosons (light, other force carriers).
Matter is NOT just energy going slower than light since even bosons can be massive but don't have some of the classical properties that defined matter.
What is matter?
Never mind.
What is Mind?
Doesn't matter.
Never mind.
What is Mind?
Doesn't matter.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
It exists wherever matter has influence.
janesix
Active Member
Matter can be destroyed. What becomes of it?
Well, electron number is conserved, so no matter what happens, there will be *some* matter left (possible as electron neutrinos).
The up and down quarks can undergo weak interactions which will change them to strange and charm quarks with W particles. The W particles are bosons and 'not matter' but can decay into 'matter'. The s and c quarks tend to change back to u and d quarks pretty quickly, giving matter back.
There is a conservation of baryon number, which is one of the things that makes bare protons stable (they do not decay).
I should also point out that the definition of matter I gave is a convenience. Most particle physicists today don't consider the term 'matter' to be very useful. The definition I gave is mostly to keep the chemists happy.
ratiocinator
Lightly seared on the reality grill.
Here we go again......
Energy isn't stuff - energy is a property of stuff. Matter is stuff but what subset of stuff it is depends on the context.
The
What is matter?
Easy: Energy that isn't moving at the speed of light.
There. Wasn't that easy?
Nope to both. First, matter is not the same as mass. Mass is one of the many properties that matter (and other things) can possess. Energy is another such property. But then, so are spin, momentum, charge, angular momentum, parity, baryon number, etc.
Second, none of those properties exists without some particle around to have that property. So, you never get 'energy' all by itself. It is the energy of a particle. That particle may have mass (like an electron) or not (like a photon).
Third, energy is a *physical* property. Again, like mass, charge, etc it is a property of quantum particles.
Finally, not all things that move slower than the speed of light are 'matter'. For example, W and Z bosons have mass (and so cannot move at the speed of light), but are force carriers (bosons) and are not typically considered to be matter any more than photons are (photons are also bosons).
Here we go again......
Energy isn't stuff - energy is a property of stuff. Matter is stuff but what subset of stuff it is depends on the context.
Theinstands for mass, not matter.
And while E=mc^2 is a very famous formula, it isn't the one that applies in all situations. For example, it doesn't apply to photons, which have m=0. Nor does it apply to massive particles in motion.
The correct, more general formula is E^2 =m^2 c^4 +p^2 c^2, where p is the momentum, m is the mass, E is the energy, and c is the speed of light.
Bob the Unbeliever
Well-Known Member
That's what I get for being glib.
Cool info, though. I wonder what Einstein would have said today, considering all the particles we've confirmed since his passing?
Thief
Rogue Theologian
if the photon has no mass
it cannot be influenced by gravity
or shall we skip the notion that all mass has some gravity dealt