Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics. Motion inside matter

416 Pages·2012·63.22 MB·English

by  Christoph Schiller

Christoph Schiller
MOTION MOUNTAIN
the adventure of physics – vol.v
motion inside matter –
pleasure, technology and stars
www.motionmountain.net

ChristophSchiller
Motion Mountain
The Adventure of Physics
Volume V
Motion Inside Matter –
Pleasure, Technology
and Stars
Edition25.40,available asfreepdfat
www.motionmountain.net
Editiovicesimaquinta.
Proprietasscriptoris©ChrestophoriSchiller
secundoannoOlympiadistrigesimae.
Omniaproprietatisiurareservanturetvindicantur.
Imitatioprohibitasineauctorispermissione.
Nonlicetpecuniamexpetereproaliqua,quae
partemhorumverborumcontinet;liber
proomnibussempergratuituseratetmanet.
Twenty-fifthedition.
Copyright©2012byChristophSchiller,
thesecondyearofthe30thOlympiad.
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ToBritta,EstherandJustusAaron
τῷἐμοὶδαὶμονι
DieMenschenstärken,dieSachenklären.
PREFACE
“Primummovere,deindedocere.* ”
Antiquity
This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity
abouthowbodies,imagesandemptyspacemoveleadstomanyadventures.Thisvolume
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presentsthebestadventuresaboutthemotioninsidepeople,insideanimals,andinside otio
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anyothertypeofmatter–fromthelargeststarstothesmallestnuclei. M
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Motion inside bodies – dead or alive – is described by quantum theory. Quantum ntain
theorydescribesallmotionwiththequantumofactionħ,thesmallestchangeobserved –
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in nature. Building on this basic idea, the text first shows how to describe life, death eA
d
and pleasure. Then, the text explains the observations of chemistry, materials science, ven
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astrophysicsandparticlephysics.Inthestructureofphysics,thesetopicscorrespondto re
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thethree‘quantum’pointsinFigure1.Thestoryofmotioninsidelivingandnon-living Ph
matter,fromthecoldestgasestothehotteststars,istoldhereinawaythatissimple,up ysics
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todateandcaptivating. d
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necIenssoarrdyermtionbimeusimm.plUe,ntdheerstetaxntdfoincgustehseocnocnocnecpetpstos,fwphhyilseickseeispignigvemnapthreecmedateincscetootvheer leavailab
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usingformulaeincalculations.Thewholetextiswithinthereachofanundergraduate. free
Inordertobeuptodate,thetextisenrichedbythemanygems–boththeoreticaland of
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empirical–thatarescatteredthroughoutthescientificliterature. arg
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Inordertobecaptivating,thetexttriestostartlethereaderasmuchaspossible.Read- at
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ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are w
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astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. otio
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Whenwelookatnature,weoftenhavethesameexperience.Indeed,everypagepresents m
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atleastonesurpriseorprovocationforthereadertothinkabout.Numerousinteresting ntain
challengesareproposed. .net
Themottoofthetext,dieMenschenstärken,dieSachenklären,afamousstatementby C
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HartmutvonHentigonpedagogy,translatesas:‘Tofortifypeople,toclarifythings.’Clar- yrig
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ifyingthings–andadheringonlytothetruth–requirescourage,aschangingthehabits ©
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of thought producesfear, often hidden by anger. But by overcomingour fears we grow risto
instrength.Andweexperienceintenseandbeautifulemotions.Allgreatadventuresin ph
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lifeallowthis,andexploringmotionisoneofthem.Enjoyit! chiller
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*‘Firstmove,thenteach.’Inmodernlanguages,thementionedtypeofmoving(theheart)iscalledmotivat- ay
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ing;bothtermsgobacktothesameLatinroot. 01
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8 preface
PHYSICS: Final, unified description of Why does motion
Describing motion motion occur? What are
with the least action principle. Adventures: understanding space, time and
motion, intense joy with quantum particles?
thinking, calculating
couplings and
masses, catching
a glimpse
of bliss
(vol. VI).
Quantum
General relativity theory with gravity Quantum field theory
Adventures: the Adventures: bouncing Adventures: building
night sky, measu- neutrons, under- accelerators, under-
ring curved space, standing tree standing quarks, stars,
exploring black growth (vol. V). bombs and the basis of
holes and the life, matter, radiation M
universe, space (vol. V). otio
n
and time (vol. II). How do small M
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How do tWhhinagt sa mreo tvhein?gs? ntain–Th
Classical gravity everyday, Special relativity Quantum theory eA
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Adventures: fast and large Adventures: light, Adventures: death, ve
n
climbing, skiing, things move? magnetism, length reproduction, biology, ture
space travel, contraction, time chemistry, evolution, of
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tahster ownoonmdey rasn odf dEil=at miocn2 a (nvodl . II). earntj,o aylli nhgig cho-ltoeucrhs and hysics
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geology (vol. I). business, medicine pd
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G c h, e, k (vol. IV and V). file
availab
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Galilean physics, heat and electricity free
Adventures: sport, music, sailing, cooking, of
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describing beauty and understanding its origin arg
(vol. I), using electricity, light and computers, eat
understanding the brain and people (vol. III). ww
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FIGURE 1 Acompletemapofphysics:theconnectionsaredefinedbythespeedoflightc,the otio
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gravitationalconstantG,thePlanckconstanth,theBoltzmannconstantkandtheelementarychargee. m
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Advice for learners et
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Learningshouldbefastandfun.Themostinefficientandmosttediouslearningmethod yrigh
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istouseamarkertounderlinetext:itwastestime,providesfalsecomfortandmakesthe C
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textunreadable.Nobodymarkingtextislearningefficientlyorisenjoyingit. risto
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Inmyexperienceasastudentandteacher,onelearningmethodneverfailedtotrans- S
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form unsuccessful pupilsintosuccessful ones: if you readabook for study, summarize iller
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every section you read, in your own words and images, aloud. If you are unable to do n
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so, read the section again. Repeat this until you can clearly summarize what you read 99
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inyourownwordsandimages,aloud.Youcandothisaloneorwithfriends,inaroom –May
2
orwhilewalking.Ifyoudothiswitheverythingyouread,youwillreduceyourlearning 01
3
preface 9
andreadingtimesignificantly,enjoylearningfromgoodtextsmuchmoreandhatebad
textsmuchless.Mastersofthemethodcan use itevenwhilelisteningtoalecture,ina
lowvoice,thusavoidingtoevertakenotes.
Advice for teachers
Ateacherlikespupilsandlikestoleadthemintoexploringthefieldhechose.Hisorher
enthusiasmforthejobisthekeytojobsatisfaction.Ifyouareateacher,beforethestart
ofalesson,picture,feelandtellyourselfyourhowyouenjoythetopicofthelesson;then
picture, feel and tell yourself how you will lead each of your pupils into enjoying that
topic as much as you do. Do this exercise consciously, every time. You will minimize
troubleinyourclassandmaximizeyoursuccess.
This bookis not writtenwithexams in mind; it is writtentomake teachersand stu-
dentsunderstandandenjoyphysics,thescienceofmotion.
M
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Using this book Mo
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Textingreen,asfoundinmanymarginalnotes,marksalinkthatcanbeclickedinapdf –
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reader. Such green links are either bibliographic references, footnotes, cross references A
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tootherpages,challengesolutions,orpointerstowebsites. ven
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Solutionsandhintsforchallengesaregivenintheappendix.Challengesareclassified re
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asresearchlevel(r),difficult(d), standardstudentlevel(s)andeasy(e).Challengesfor Ph
whichnosolutionhasyetbeenincludedinthebookaremarked(ny). ysics
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Feedback and support availab
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Thistextisandwillremainfreetodownloadfromtheinternet.Iwouldbedelightedto free
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[email protected],especiallyonthefollowingissues: fch
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Challenge1s — Whatwasunclearandshouldbeimproved? at
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— Whatstory,topic,riddle,pictureormoviedidyoumiss? ww
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— Whatshouldbecorrected? otio
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Inordertosimplifyannotations,thepdffileallowsaddingyellowstickernotesinAdobe ou
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Reader. Help on the specific points listed on the www.motionmountain.net/help.html tain
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webpagewouldbeparticularlywelcome.Allfeedbackwillbeusedtoimprovethenext et
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edition.Onbehalfofallreaders,thankyouinadvanceforyourinput.Foraparticularly op
useful contribution you will be mentioned – if you want – in the acknowledgements, yrigh
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receiveareward,orboth. C
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Your donation to the charitable, tax-exempt non-profit organisation that produces, risto
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translatesandpublishesthisbookseriesiswelcome!Fordetails,seethewebpagewww. S
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motionmountain.net/donation.html. If you want, your name will be included in the iller
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sponsorlist.Thankyouinadvanceforyourhelp,onbehalfofallreadersacrosstheworld. n
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Thepapereditionofthisbook,printedondemand and deliveredby mailtoany ad- 99
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dress of your choice, can be ordered at www.lulu.com/spotlight/motionmountain. But –May
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aboveall,enjoythereading! 01
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10 preface
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