Primary Relativity

During pre-historic times, man's survival depended on the distance and motion of those objects which surrounded him. He was not aware of the words "dimensions", nor unit values of dimensions, such as "feet" or "miles" or "seconds" or "hours". He simply needed to know IF the things he perceived were close or far , and were they moving or stationary relative to himself. If they were moving, then he needed to know if the current distance between he and that object might be eliminated quickly or slowly .

Numbers, Dimensions, and Units of Measurement

After the advent of communal life with the associated business and trade, a system of absolute measurements was needed for purposes of trade and commerce. Three types of commodity measurements were needed: length, weight, and time duration. Units of measurement were established based on the type of items which one desired to trade. Hence the concepts of a "foot" of length, or a "stone" of weight, and a "day" of labor were introduced to facilitate that trade. For each of these, a unit value of comparison was agreed upon, and a system of ratios (numerical values) was established in order to quantify the amount of the commodity to be traded.

Mathematics and Imagination

By the sixteenth century, the system of numbers in use was so commonplace that the names assigned to those numbers had taken on a form of reality within the minds of mankind. The fact that each number was actually only representative of a ratio of relativity to the absolute unit value of measurement - rather than an absolute reality unto itself tended to be overlooked because the denominator of the ratio (1.0) was adequately implied by the type of comparison of interest. Man's interest's had expanded into the celestial region of space, and man first acknowledged that Earth was not the center of the universe. Concepts of mathematics were developed, and new words and simple equations were defined to explain the new observations. For example the word "velocity" was defined to express the mathematical equation relating a change in location divided by a corresponding lapse of time. It was first recognized that all objects "fall" to earth at the same rate of "acceleration". This was an astounding discovery at that time because intuitively it seemed that heavy items should fall faster than slower objects.

Mass and Linear Acceleration

While investigating the manner of motion of falling objects, Galileo measured the duration of time and associated length of distance involved as balls rolled down a sloped ramp. The force causing the changes was recognized to be the weight of the balls, and the applicable force in the direction of motion was varied by changing the slope of the ramp. While investigating this factor, Galileo recognized that a natural opposing force (inertia) exists which is directly proportional to the force being applied to cause the ongoing change in "velocity" of the balls.

His experiments confirmed that the ratio of the applied force (the weight)to the naturally resisting force (ineria)was a constant for all objects. In mathematical terms, Fa/Fn = K, where Fa is the applied force, Fn is the natural resistance force, and K is a dimensionless constant.

Unfortunately, the result of Galileo's experiments were subsequently distorted by Isaac Newton when he used the word "mass" in place of the words "resisting force", and the term "linear acceleration" in place of the dimensionless ratio of Fa/Fn (or in his terms, the ratio of F/M). He presented the results in mathematical form F=MA, and advised that Force equals Mass times Acceleration. That announcement formed the basic foundation underlying almost all of the subsequent scientific efforts within the scientific "establishment".

That equation, along with the words mass and acceleration, has subsequently taken on a sense of reality unto itself within the mind of men, while the underlying reality of the original experimental evidence has been forgotten. The term "mass" is no longer considered to be simply a natural resisting force which is variable in direct proportion to applied force. It is now considered to be a constant value which is independent of motion. The "dimensional units" for that constant factor are reported to be "force times the square of seconds divided by distance".

Similarly the constant dimensionless mathematical ratio Fa/Fn (or F/M if you prefer) has been disassociated from the ratio and assigned the dimensional form of "distance divided by the square of time". In that form, the constant is now commonly accepted as an independent variable.

The important fact that the equation (Fa/Fn) = constant has been forgotten. That equation, when coupled with the recognition that Fa must always meet with an equal resistance (Fn), also advises that the term we call "acceleration" can never vary from 1.0. The fact that Fa must equal Fn also comes from Newton's own work which advises that it is impossible to "push" on something harder than it "pushes" back. (In more formal fashion Newton's statement was that 'for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction'.)

Today, any suggestion that the true "dimension" of inertial mass is simply "force", and that F/M is a dimensionless constant is immediately discounted without consideration by most members of the "establishment". And he who would even offer such a suggestion is almost certain to be quickly branded by the establishment as an obvious "crack pot".

In any event, man's initial perceptions of relative distance between object of interest and self, existence or lack of relative motion, and relative time for the convergence of distance between object and self has long been forgotten. The original three "dimensional" factors of length, weight, and time have now been supplemented by "mass". A host of purely imaginary mathematical equations and terms have subsequently been created, many of which have now taken on a sense of reality within the minds of man.

It was this lack of recognition between reality and imaginary mathematics that lead to the next significant error. After having created the equation of F=MA, Newton turned his attention to the motion of the planets as they rotated around the Sun.

Centripetal Force

Because he was a very learned and imaginative person, Newton was probably aware of several seemingly unrelated factors.

He was aware of the mathematical equation involving the imagined motion of an imaginary (weightless) "point" along an arc around a second imaginary center "point". It can be mathematically proven that the tangential velocity vector for that point must be deflected by a value equal to the square of the tangential velocity (V) divided by the radius of the arc (R). Newton recognized that the ratio, V^2/R, results in a corresponding ratio of dimensional values which he had previously defined by the word "acceleration". Newton's thought pattern probably was as follows:

• He assumed that he could apply the equation involving the imaginary geometry for the non-linear motion of imaginary (weightless) geometric "points" to the motion of real (mass) objects moving in non-linear paths. He applied his prior equation of F=MA, and assumed that a new equation, F=M times (V^2/R), must be true. Newton announced that in this form, the F term referred to "centripetal force".

• He then advised that if any "massive" object (or planet) moved in non-linear motion, the object must be experiencing a centripetal force existing on that object. And that it was that centripetal force which causes the non-linear motion to occur.

The equation seemed to be verified by his knowledge that when a stone is rotated in a sling, then the other end of the string must be restrained by an applied force (the hand). When the force at the hand is removed (by release of the stone from the sling), it was known that the stone no longer moved in an arc, but flew off into the distance along a straight path.

Unfortunately for science, Newton (and the rest of the scientific community) apparently overlooked a few obvious factors.

• The hand restraining the sling while the stone continues in the non-linear path of motion does not remain fixed in position. The hand must also move in an arc in unison with the stone. Both the stone and the hand move around a common center of rotation which is located somewhere along an imaginary straight line between the stone and the hand. The stone and hand move through the same angular measure in equal times.

• The amount of force which the hand must exert to restrain the stone is inversely proportional to the ratio of the corresponding radii of rotation. As the radius of the arc through which the hand moves decreases, the amount of force which the hand must exert to restrain the stone increases. If the radius of that arc approaches zero, the hand must exert almost an infinite force - which would obviously be a physical impossibility.

• The geometry of this mutual rotational motion involving the hand and stone also must result in the ratio of the velocity of the two being identical to the ratio of the radii of the two from the common center of rotation. Mathematically, V1:V2 = R1:R2 where the subscripts refer to the two mutually rotating objects.

• The product of the "mass" times the radial distance from the object to the mutual center of rotation is identical for both of the mutually rotating objects. Mathematically stated M1*R1 = M2*R2.

Newton may have overlooked the fact that the relationship between Sun and planets is analogous to that of the hand and stone in the sling. Neither the hand nor the Sun remains motionless. Both the hand and the Sun are involved in a state of mutual rotation with the partner object (planet and stone). The mutual rotation of celestial bodies around a common center of rotation was indeed later recognized and proclaimed by Newton. But he apparently did not return in thought after that announcement to evaluate the affect on his prior concept of centripetal force associated with the motion of the planets around the Sun.

Because he did not recognize that the Sun was in mutual rotation with the planets, Newton assumed that the mathematical value of the centripetal force which he had envisioned must exist at the planet should be based on the TOTAL distance between the Sun and planet, and that all tangential motion (or velocity) was attributable entirely to the motion of the planet. He also concluded that since the Sun was "fixed" in space, it was not exposed to a corresponding centripetal force. He concluded that the planet was exposed to an unbalanced centripetal force proportional to the to the mass of the planet times the square to the TOTAL relative tangential velocity of the two body (Sun and planet) system, and inversely proportional to the TOTAL distance between Sun and planet.

If Newton had recognized that Sun and planet were both moving around a common center of rotation, then it would probably have been evident to him that both Sun and planet were subjected to a equal and opposite "centripetal forces". They acted as two parts of a single system for which the net radial (centripetal) forces is zero. The radial distance of the sun is much less than that of the planets due to the great difference in the "mass" value. As a result, there is a great difference in the ratio of the tangential velocities. However both Sun and planet do share a common angular rotational rate, which in mathematical terms is equal to V/R. When these differences are accounted for, then the actual ratio of the two masses (Sun and planet) is the mathematical identity to the inverse value of their radii and of their tangential velocities relative to the mutual center of rotation. Mathematically this is M1:M2 = R2:R1 = V2:V1.

Because of the above oversights, and false assumptions, Newton was about to make the greatest scientific error of history.

Mass Attraction

Having concluded all of the above, Newton then concluded that since there was no apparent connection (or sling) between the Sun and planet, some other form of undiscovered force must exist that held the planet in its orbital path around the Sun. He created the term "mass attraction" for that missing rope, and advised that mass attraction is a new undiscovered force field which radiates omni-directionally from all bodies of "mass". With some added imagination he advised that that force field resulted in the existence of an attractive force, Fg, between the Sun and planets which is exactly equal to the imagined centripetal force existing on that planet, and that the mathematical value of the attractive force is equal to the product of the two masses divided by the square of the total distance between the two masses times a new "universal constant of gravitation". In mathematical terms, he proclaimed that Fg=G*(M1 * M2)/L^2 where M represents the masses of the bodies, and L represents the TOTAL distance between those bodies, with G representing the new "universal constant of gravitation".

Newton's effort was such an ingenious work of imaginative nonsense that it has baffled (and been accepted) by the "establishment" for centuries. Currently it is so well ingrained as the result of repetition and training that few have dared to challenge the concepts which Newton proclaimed.

While I challenge the concept, I in no way mean to defame the imaginative genius of Sir Isaac Newton. At the time of his announcements, it must be remembered that the current state of science had just begun to realize that Earth itself was not a fixed body around which the entire universe must rotate. Newton's creative thought was therefore truly ingenious. However the fact that his conclusions remain unchallenged as "classical physics" may not reflect well on the members of the scientific "establishment" who have carried Newton's original assumptions forward, without question, for three centuries.

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