Newton's Laws of motion vs. Coulomb's Law
Newton's Laws of Motion:
Briefly stated, the three laws are:
1. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by a net force.
2. Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration.
3. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Coulomb's Law states: The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two points electric charges is directly proportional to the product of the magnitudes of each charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the charges.
3 comments:
Based on the assumption that these laws can be modeled as point charges without affecting the outcome of the simulations Newton won. I thought Coulomb had a chance, but alas, Newtons third law as the undoing. In a daring opening move Coulomb attacked F=Ma, killing it dead. But then from the side in the shadows, law three brought it to mind that there is an equal and opposite reaction, hence killing the opposing law as well.
The simulation was run again, this time with Coulomb attacking as a "team of one" against the opposing team. This led to the destruction of both teams, again due to Newton's third law. So, call it a draw. I flipped a coin, a very scientific coin, and Newton won.
I'd have to say that Newton wins this one, just because of the deception involved. That second law is more devious than most people realize. I know an entire class of senior physics majors that were thrown down on a final due to that wonderful inaccurate (though convincing) statement of "fact."
I can't help but vote for Newton. Fundamental laws are the ultimate awesomeness.
Unfortunately, most of my personal experiences with Newton's laws have been injurious. From car accident to car accident, my body's had more acted upon it than it's acted upon, if you know what I mean.
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