Re:Physicists may now have a way to make element 120
by vikingerik on Wednesday July 24, 2024 @05:00PM
(#41062059)
Think of three protons in a line, A-B-C. Proton B is repelled in both directions so experiences no net force.
Now think of 10^50 protons in a line. They're all experiencing net gravity towards the middle.
Re:Physicists may now have a way to make element 120
by wakamoleguy on Wednesday July 24, 2024 @05:14PM
(#41062208)
A is repelled outward, B is not repelled, C is repelled outward.
With gravity, A is attracted inward, B is not attracted, C is attracted inward.
Re:Physicists may now have a way to make element 120
by mrb on Thursday July 25, 2024 @03:30AM
(#41065794)
Your idea doesn't generalize. With A-B-C-D-E, only C experiences no net forces along the horizontal axis, while all the others (A, B, D, E) are repelled outward. Therefore the electromagnetic force is not cancelled as you seem to imply.
Of course, in practice, we don't know what the inside of a black hole is like, as quantum gravity is very much unsolved.
Re:Physicists may now have a way to make element 120
by kaashif on Monday July 29, 2024 @07:35PM
(#41104728)
Okay, but A and B are both repelled outward and it explodes.
So the conclusion is any proton star would just explode? That's what I already thought.
Re:Physicists may now have a way to make element 120
by smaudet on Thursday July 25, 2024 @11:12AM
(#41069625)
We like to say gravity is "weak", however it seems to operate on many orders of magnitude larger distances.
Even if you make the argument that the energy complicit in the strong/weak forces is cumutavily much greater than the energy due to gravity, I'm still not sure "weak" is the right word for the job...
Gravity onstensibly runs at infinite speed over infinite area (the effect of gravity waves non-withstanding).
Is that true? All of the protons repel all other protons with the electric force and attract with the gravitational force, and it seems like gravity is just much weaker at all distances...
I haven't thought about this very hard though.