AETHER AND NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION
ART. 96. _Centrifugal Force._--Before proceeding to apply some of the
principles and laws which govern the electro-magnetic aetherial medium
to solar and stellar phenomena, it will be as well just to review the
conception of our new aetherial Centrifugal Force, so that we may form a
right view of it in its completeness and entirety.
In Art. 11 we premised that there was in existence another force, which
was the exact opposite of the centripetal force, and that this force was
the complementary and counterpart of the centripetal force or
Gravitation Attraction; and further, that this force was due to the
motion of the universal Aether which filled all space.
In Art. 13 we saw that all force resolved itself into energy of some
kind, the same being due either to potential energy, _i. e._ energy of
position, or to kinetic energy, which is the energy belonging to matter
actually in motion. From Art. 56 we learned that all energy was energy
of motion, so that all force resolves itself into motion of some kind.
Thus our term Centrifugal Force really implies, and demands, a motion of
the Aether which is ever directed away from the centre of gravity of any
body, whether that body be an atom or molecule, satellite or planet, sun
or star. From the phenomena of heat we have seen that there exists a
repulsive motion, due to the aetherial medium, which is ever exerted
from the central body of any atomic, planetary or stellar system, that
repulsive motion being due to the pressure of the universal Aether,
which not only surrounds all atoms, but also surrounds all other bodies
in the universe.
From the phenomena of light we have also seen that the Aether possesses
a repulsive or centrifugal motion, which is also due to the pressure of
the same Aether as mathematically proved by Maxwell, and experimentally
proved by Prof. Lebedew, and Nichols and Hull of America. Further, from
the phenomena of electricity, we have also seen that there exists this
centrifugal motion, due to the pressure of the same aetherial medium,
which pressure is ever directed away from the electrified body, as the
sun or planets.
So that from these three phases of the universal Aether, that is, from
its thermal or heat manifestation, its luminiferous or light
manifestation, and its electro-magnetic manifestation, we get
irrefutable evidence of the existence of a centrifugal motion, which
motion is ever directed away from the central body; and the result of
that motion takes the form of a pressure upon any body with which the
motion comes into contact.
Again, it was premised, that such a centrifugal force or motion must
fulfil all the laws which governed the centripetal force or motion.
First, it had to be universal (Art. 19). Second, it had to follow
exactly the same path as the centripetal force or motion, which was that
of a straight line joining the centre of gravity of two bodies, as for
example the earth and the sun (Art. 20). Third, the centrifugal force or
motion must be equal to the product of the masses, in the same way that
the centripetal force was governed by such a law (Art. 21). Fourth, its
intensity was to be governed by the law of inverse squares, the same as
the centripetal force or Gravitation Attraction was governed (Art. 22).
Now all these conditions are satisfactorily fulfilled, and have been
shown to be satisfactorily fulfilled, from the phenomena of heat, light,
and electricity in their relation to the universal Aether. For in Art.
43 we saw that the Aether was universal, and therefore if the
centrifugal motion is produced and originated by the Aether, then such
motions must be as universal as that medium, which under qualifying
conditions gives rise to these motions.
From Arts. 65 and 76 we have learned that the path of this centrifugal
motion is that of a straight line, and follows exactly the same path
that the centripetal force of gravity takes. In Art. 85 we learned that
the centrifugal force between any two bodies was equal to the product of
their masses, which is exactly the same as the centripetal force that
exists between any two bodies; and, lastly, from the phenomena of heat,
light, and electricity we learned that the intensity of this centrifugal
motion due to aetherial pressure was inversely as the square of the
distance, which is the law governing the intensity of its counterpart,
the centripetal force. Thus we have learned that there is in existence
throughout universal space, a physical force or motion due to a physical
medium, the universal Aether, which force or motion is the exact
opposite of the centripetal force or Gravitation Attraction, which may
be stated as follows--
Every particle in the universe repels every other particle with a force
whose direction is in the line joining the centres of gravity of the two
bodies, and whose magnitude is directly as the product of their masses,
and inversely as the square of the distance between them, at their mean
distances.
We shall see that it is by the conjoint working of these two forces, the
Centripetal and Centrifugal, in combination with other motions of the
Aether, that the harmonious working of the whole celestial mechanism is
maintained and perpetuated. In confirmation of the existence of the
centrifugal force, I should like to draw the attention of the reader to
certain phenomena relative to the solar system, which phenomena violate
the centripetal force as at present recognized, and can alone be
accounted for by the existence of another force or motion existing in
space, such as the centrifugal motion already proved and demonstrated.
We know that the law governing the centripetal force, or Gravitation
Attraction, is regulated by the product of the masses of the two
attracting bodies. So that if there were three bodies in space whose
masses are respectively represented by 2, 3 and 100, the proportion of
the attractive force of gravitation between the largest and the other
two, would be 200 (100 × 2) and 300 (100 × 3) respectively. So that if
the centripetal force, or the Attraction of Gravitation, is the only
governing force in the universe, then it naturally follows that the two
bodies, between which the attractive force is greater, will be closer
together than the two bodies between which the attractive force is less.
Thus the two bodies, whose product of their masses is represented by
300, will, according to the Law of Gravitation, be closer together than
the two bodies, the product of whose masses is represented by only 200.
Unless this is so, we should have a violation of the Law of Gravitation,
and it would at once cease to be a law.
Let us therefore apply the centripetal force, or Gravitation Attraction,
to the solar system, and see how it works out. The law strictly defined
is given in Art. 18, from which we learn that the attractive force
between two bodies is as the product of their masses. Now what are the
masses of some of the bodies in the solar system?
We find that the sun, with its diameter of 865,000 miles, is about
324,000 times greater in mass than our earth, so that it would take
about 324,000 bodies of the size and density of our earth to equal a
body of the size and density of the sun. It has been calculated,
however, by Von Asten, from observations made on comets by the planet
Mercury, that the mass of Mercury is about 1/24 of the mass of the
Earth. Therefore the mass of the sun must exceed the mass of Mercury
324,000 × 24 = 7,776,000; the exact relation according to Von Asten is
7,636,440. Again, the planet Jupiter, with its diameter of 85,000 miles
and its density of 1·38, is only 1/1048 part of the mass of the sun, so
that it would take about 1048 Jupiters to equal the mass of the sun,
therefore Jupiter must weigh about 7400 times the mass of Mercury.
If the mass of Mercury, therefore, be represented by 1, the mass of the
Earth would be represented by 24, the mass of Jupiter by 7400, and the
mass of the sun by 7,636,400. So that the attractive forces between the
planets as regards their masses only will be represented numerically as
follows--
Sun and Mercury 7,636,400 × 1 = 7,636,400.
Sun and Earth 7,636,400 × 24 = 190,008,000.
Sun and Jupiter 7,636,400 × 7,400 = 56,435,360,000.
Thus we see that the attractive force between the sun and the earth
exceeds 24 times the attractive force between the sun and Mercury, while
the attractive force of gravity between the sun and Jupiter is 7400
times greater than the attractive force between the sun and Mercury,
relative to their masses.
Therefore, according to the Law of Gravity, as regards the masses of
bodies, Jupiter and the sun should be nearer together than Mercury and
the sun, because their attractive powers are greater, and the earth and
the sun should be nearer together than Mercury and the sun, because
their joint attractive powers are also greater. In the same way it can
be proved that all the other planets whose masses are greater than
Mercury ought, according to the Law of Gravity in regard to masses only,
to be nearer to the sun than what Mercury is, simply because the total
attractive forces between any two are greater than the attractive force
between Mercury and the sun.
The respective masses of the planets compared with the sun, taking the
mass of the sun as unity, are as follows--
Jupiter 1/1,048 of mass of sun.
Saturn 1/3,529 " "
Neptune 1/18,520 " "
Uranus 1/22,020 " "
Earth 1/324,439 " "
Venus 1/397,000 " "
Mars 1/2,994,790 " "
Mercury 1/7,636,440 " "
Therefore, if the total attractive force of gravity is equal to the
product of the masses of any two bodies, then the planets ought to be in
the following order in relation to their distance from the sun: Jupiter,
first, followed by Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Earth, Venus, Mars and
Mercury; that being the order in which the attractive power of gravity
is regulated by their respective masses.
Yet the very opposite is nearly the case, as we find that some of the
further planets, as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, possess greater
masses than any of the nearer planets; so that here we have a distinct
violation of the Law of Gravitation Attraction, which states that the
attraction between any two bodies is directly as the product of their
masses, because we find certain bodies with greater attracting powers
further away from the sun, than other planets possessing less attracting
powers, because of their smaller masses. I cannot recall having ever
read of any explanation which has been given for such an anomaly, and
indeed this apparent violation admits of no other explanation than the
conception of the dual character of the so-called Law of Universal
Gravitation, which includes a repelling or repulsive force or motion,
such motion being due to the pressure of the universal Aether.
Thus in the light of the centrifugal motion, combined with the fact that
Aether is gravitative, by which each body possesses an aetherial
atmosphere and electrical equivalent proportionate to its mass, it can
be demonstrated within a reasonable limit how it is that such planets as
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, possessing aetherial atmospheres and
electrical equivalents proportionate to their masses, revolve in orbits
round the sun at much greater distances than Mercury, Venus, the Earth,
or Mars. This explanation will follow as we consider the Centrifugal
Force and the Centripetal Force in their relation to Newton's Laws of
Motion.
ART. 97. _Centripetal Force._--We have now to apply the Centripetal
Force, together with the new Aetherial Centrifugal Force, to the solar
system, and show that by their conjoint working taken in conjunction
with the motions of the Aether, all celestial phenomena may be
satisfactorily explained on a physical basis, in a similar way that
Newton proved the same result from the mathematical standpoint.
We saw in Art. 10 that the centripetal force was really none other than
the Attraction of Gravitation, in that it always acted to a centre, and
in no other way, and therefore by the centripetal force for the present
we must understand is meant the attractive power of Gravitation.
Afterwards, when it has been demonstrated that the centripetal force and
the new aetherial centrifugal force can account for all celestial
phenomena, then we shall be in a position to show what the physical
cause of the centripetal force is.
Let us again refer to the centripetal force, so that we may see exactly
what its governing conditions are. In Art. 18 we learned that this force
might be thus expressed: "Every particle of matter in the universe
attracts every other particle with a force whose direction is that of a
line joining their centres of gravity, and whose magnitude is directly
as the product of their masses, and inversely as the square of the
distance between them." Now we have seen from the previous Art. that the
centrifugal force due to the pressure of the Aether medium is the exact
counterpart of this, in every way, so that if we combine the two, we get
the complete statement of the universal law which governs all matter,
and which we may define as follows--
"Every particle in the universe attracts and repels every other
particle in the universe with a force whose direction is that of a line
joining their centres of gravity, and whose magnitude is directly as the
product of their masses, and inversely as the square of the distance
between them." This complete law, however, only holds good when the two
forces are in equilibrium.
With this conception of the universal law which governs all matter, the
harmony and stability of the universe becomes possible from the physical
standpoint. Apart from this conjoint working of the two forces or
motions, a physical explanation of Universal Gravitation is impossible,
as with one force operating only throughout the universe, ultimate
stability is inconceivable, and the harmony of the spheres might at any
time be suddenly destroyed.
With this conception of the universal law which governs all matter, the
great Law of Gravitation is brought into harmony with all experience and
observation. Look where we will, or at what we will, there we find
forces possessing a dual character, as we have already seen proved.
Professor Tyndall, as we have already learned (Art. 63), definitely
states that the stability of atomic systems is preserved by the
existence and operation of _two forces, one attractive and the other
repulsive_, and what is true of the atomic world is equally true of
solar or stellar worlds. Thus for the first time in this respect, our
philosophy agrees with our experience, and the true relation of the
centrifugal force or motion to the centripetal force is made manifest.
So that, wherever in the solar system the centripetal force or
Gravitation Attraction operates, there, with exactly equal intensity and
power, the aetherial centrifugal force operates, at the respective mean
distances of the planets and satellites, where the two forces are in
equilibrium.
If it were possible to conceive of a stationary solar system, then, by
the conjoint working of the two forces, it would be equally possible to
conceive of perfect stability and harmony existing between the
respective planets and satellites of that system while stationary.
Such a conception is altogether impossible in the present state of
Philosophy, as the stability of the system, with the old view of the
Centrifugal Force, is entirely dependent upon the motions of the
respective bodies in that system; and if such orbital motions could be
stayed, then the only physical conception possible would be, that every
planet and satellite, planetoid and meteor within the attractive force
of the central body, the sun, would be slowly but surely drawn to a
fiery death, as they would all ultimately be attracted and swallowed up
by the sun.
Thus we learn, that while the sun is the centre of a centripetal force,
which ever operates far and wide throughout space, it is equally the
centre of a repulsive or centrifugal force or motion which also operates
co-extensively and co-equally with the former.
Not only so, but every planet and satellite, nay every particle and
every atom, while it is the centre of a centripetal force, is also the
centre of a repulsive force, as pointed out by Professor Tyndall, which
force is due in each and every case to the pressure of the aetherial
atmosphere which surrounds the atom or molecule, satellite or planet.
Thus the physical conception of heat in its effect on molecules having a
repulsive force (Art. 63) is confirmed, and that that force is due to
the pressure of the Aether is also confirmed by subsequent
investigations into the phenomena of light and electricity, by which we
have arrived at our physical conception of the Universal Centrifugal
Force.
So that we have now a physical conception of the experiment performed by
Nichols and Hull of America, and by Professor Lebedew of Russia, in
which they conclusively demonstrated the existence of the pressure of
aetherial light waves, which proves beyond the possibility of doubt the
existence of this physical centrifugal force. Every atom and molecule,
therefore, is the centre of two forces, which co-exist together, and
every meteor and satellite and every planet is also the centre of the
same two forces, and this we shall find in its application to planetary
phenomena will have a most important bearing on the physical conception
of those phenomena. Thus it is the Aether medium, by its energy of
motions, that constitutes the companion and complementary force to
Gravitation Attraction, and which, as we shall see later, is the medium
which forms the physical basis of that attraction also. It is, then, by
the combined and harmonious working of these two co-equal, co-existent,
and co-extensive forces that worlds roll and rush, sweep and swing, move
and rotate about their respective centres; and, by these two forces
working in perfect harmony, that that order and stability are produced,
which everywhere pervade the universe of worlds, and form them in their
entirety into one grand, ultimate, and harmonious system.
To develop and prove this fact, by explaining their manner and mode of
working, we shall now proceed to consider Newton's Laws of Motion, and
their relation to the aetherial medium, and by so doing shall be able to
show the unmistakable reality and complete efficiency of this physical
conception of the Aether medium, which forms the physical basis of all
universal motion and phenomena.
ART. 98. _Newton's First Law of Motion._--We will now apply the
centrifugal and centripetal forces to Newton's Laws of Motion, and
endeavour to form a physical conception of the same from the aetherial
standpoint. Before doing so, we must recall some of the statements made
in Art. 14 with reference to the First Law of Motion.
It will be remembered that we divided the First Law of Motion into two
parts: 1st, "Every body continues in a state of rest except in so far as
it is compelled by impressed forces, _i. e._ impulses or motions, to
change that state." This we saw agreed with our experience, and
therefore was philosophically correct, and must hold good in its
application to the centrifugal and centripetal forces of the Aether in
their effect upon any body in space.
Let us proceed to apply the First Law of Motion to the planetary world.
We have seen in the previous Art. so far as the distances of the planets
are concerned in their relation to the sun, that the Law of Gravity is
violated, and that planetary distance is not regulated by the law
governing the centripetal force of Gravitation, otherwise the planets
possessing the largest masses would be nearer to the sun than those
possessing smaller masses.
The question arises, as to whether there is any law which governs
planetary distance, by which the distance of any planet was regulated at
the birth or creation of the solar system. It has been assumed by some
scientists that planetary density is the regulating factor which
determines the relative distance of the respective planets from their
central body, the sun, but such an assumption is not consistent with
scientific data. For we find that Venus, with a density of 4.81 compared
with water, occupies a nearer position than the Earth with a density of
5.66, whereas the reverse should be the case if the density of a planet
were the deciding factor in regulating a planet's distance.
Again, we find Saturn, which possesses a density of .75, occupying a
nearer position to the sun than Uranus, which possesses a density of
1.28; so that here again, if density were the regulating factor which
decided planetary distance, such a law is violated. According to the
various densities of the planets, the respective positions of the
planets in relation to the sun would be as follows: The nearest planet
would be Mercury, which possesses a density of 6.85. This would be
followed by the Earth, with a density of 5.66. Then Venus would come
next, with a density of 4.81, followed by Mars, with a density of 4.01.
After these we should have Jupiter, whose density is 1.38, with Uranus,
whose density is 1.28, followed by Neptune possessing a density of 1.15,
and Saturn would take Neptune's place, as it possesses the least density
of all, its density being only .75. So that it is manifest, that density
cannot be the governing condition, as has been proved in the previous
article.
Now, if all the planets ever formed part of the sun, and they were
hurled off into space by the centrifugal motion of the Aether, then
there certainly would be some law which governs the relative distance of
the various planets; but as far as we can see, there is no such law, as
a law which is violated ceases to be a law, so that the law of masses or
densities of a planet, governing their distances, has no place in the
solar system.
This leads up to the question as to whether the planets ever did form
part of the sun, as is generally supposed; and, in view of the fact that
there is no law by which planetary distances are regulated, we are
compelled to come to the conclusion that each planet and satellite once
existed in an aetherial condition in space, and that it was by the
condensation of that Aether, that each planet was formed; and that, at
its birth, each planet occupied the relative distance from the sun which
it occupies to-day.
At first sight this may appear startling, but I would ask the reader how
he can account otherwise for the great irregularity which exists in the
distances of the planets in their relation to the sun, as every known
law which governs masses and density seems to be altogether set at
defiance.
I hope to prove later on, that all matter has an aetherial origin, and
if that be correct, then the origin of a planet briefly outlined can be
accepted without violating the results of experience or experiment, and
to that extent will be philosophically correct.
Dr. Larmor speaks of the aetherial constitution of matter, and refers to
the views of Faraday and Davy in support of such a theory, while Lord
Kelvin has referred to the same principle in an article on the
"Condensation of Gravitational Matter in any part of the Universe"
(_Phil. Mag._, July 1902). So that if it be possible for Aether to be
condensed, and so form the nucleus of a planet or satellite, then,
seeing that the Aether is universal, any planet or satellite or meteor
may be formed in any part of the solar system; and the process has only
to be continued, until we have planets of various sizes at various
distances from the central body, the sun.
Here, therefore, at any rate, is a physical hypothesis which will
satisfactorily account for all the different distances of the various
planets. Apart from some such hypothesis, I fail to see how we can
account for the irregularity that exists between planetary distances,
when viewed from the standpoint of their masses and their densities.
Further, such a conception is entirely in harmony with the view of the
dual character of the motions or powers of the aetherial medium, that
would co-exist with the evolution and development of the planet. For, as
the planet was evolved and developed from the aetherial medium which
surrounded it on every side, two motions would be developed and grow
with it--the centrifugal force or motion, and the centripetal motion of
the Aether, or the attractive force known as Gravity. Thus, through all
the growth and development of a planet, these two powers, the
centripetal force and the centrifugal force, would be co-equal and
co-existent.
The same truth applies to the sun or any other body in the universe; so
that, if a planet, as the Earth, was formed in the beginning at its mean
distance of 92,700,000 miles, then the joint centripetal motions
produced by the Earth and sun in the Aether, would always equal the
joint centrifugal motions produced by the same two bodies, simply
because the two laws are the exact opposite of each other both in regard
to intensity, distance, and magnitude.
Thus the Earth would always occupy its relative position in relation to
the sun that it occupies to-day, as long as the two aetherial forces or
motions, the centripetal and the centrifugal, exist. With this brief
outline of a planet's history, we are now in a position to form a
physical picture of the solar system when it first existed in the
beginning.
We find the sun then occupying its centre. At various distances, we find
the various planets situated without any regard to their relative masses
or densities, as the following table shows. (The mass of sun is taken as
unity.)
MEAN DISTANCE. MASS. DENSITY.
Mercury 35,900,000 1/7,636,440 6.85
Venus 67,000,000 1/397,000 4.81
Earth 92,700,000 1/324,439 5.66
Mars 141,000,000 1/2,994,790 4.01
Jupiter 482,000,000 1/1,048 1.38
Saturn 884,000,000 1/3,529 .75
Uranus 1,780,000,000 1/22,020 1.28
Neptune 2,780,000,000 1/18,520 1.15
Now, in order for any of these planets to fulfil Newton's First Law of
Motion, the sun, which occupies the centre of the solar system, must be
assumed to have no rotatory or orbital motion of its own; because, so
long as it has a rotatory motion on its axis, or an orbital motion of
its own through space, so long will even the first part of Newton's
First Law of Motion be inapplicable to the solar system.
But if the sun can be assumed to possess at some point in its history no
orbital motion, or rotatory motion on its axis, then the physical
interpretation of the first law of motion can be physically conceived,
and a planet at rest will remain at rest relatively to its central body,
the sun, for ever.
Let us take the sun and Mercury as an example of the effect of the two
motions operating in the aetherial medium. We will consider first the
effect of the centrifugal motion. The sun, with its huge form, occupies
the centre of the solar system, while Mercury has its mean distance
about 36,000,000 miles away.
The solar fires are intensely burning, and every atom and every particle
composing them are excited thereby into the most intense activity, and
by their energy of motion create myriads upon myriads of waves in the
surrounding Aether, which flow away on every side with the velocity of
light.
With such velocity are they generated, that they speed across the
distance of 36,000,000 miles which exist between Mercury and the sun in
the short time of about three minutes, and if it were not for the
aetherial and aerial atmosphere of the planet, would fall upon the
surface of Mercury with an intensity of heat that would scorch up all
vegetable life, if any existed thereon.
Now let us for a moment ignore the existence of the centripetal force,
and then in that light view the influence of the electro-magnetic Aether
waves upon Mercury. We have seen that when aetherial light waves come
into contact with any body, they exert a pressure upon that body (Art.
77), so that under the influence of the centrifugal force only, Mercury
would be borne away from its central body, the sun, with a power and
energy of motion entirely dependent upon the intensity of the
electro-magnetic Aether waves which give rise to the centrifugal force.
Thus Mercury would be carried away from the sun, far far away into the
depths of space, with ever-decreasing rapidity, the rapidity of its
motion through space being entirely dependent upon the intensity and
energy of the Aether waves; and, as that intensity varies inversely as
the square of the distance from the central body, the sun, so the
impelling and repelling energy of the Aetherial waves would vary
inversely as the square of the distance from the central body.
Thus the motion of Mercury or any other planet through space would not
be uniform, but would gradually decrease, and such a result is perfectly
in harmony with all experience and experiment in relation to moving
bodies on this earth.
This effect of the Aetherial electro-magnetic light waves upon a planet
is in harmony with Newton's nineteenth query in _Optics_, and is indeed
the physical illustration of that query in its corrected form which we
have already referred to in Art. 46, where Newton says: "Doth it
(Aether) not grow denser and denser, etc.; every body endeavouring to go
from the denser parts of the medium towards the rarer?"
That the Aether does grow denser and denser nearer to a body we have
already seen in Art. 46, and now we learn that a body, when under the
influence of the centrifugal force only, would pass from the denser
parts of a medium to the rarer parts, as suggested by Newton. We will
now suppose that Mercury has been repelled, by the pressure due to the
aetherial waves generated by the sun, to the distance of Neptune, a
distance of 2,780,000,000 miles; and that at this point the centrifugal
force is cancelled, and in its place is put the centripetal force of
Gravitation. What will be the effect upon Mercury then? At first sight
the effect will be exceedingly slight, but slowly, yet surely, the
attractive power of the sun would begin to make itself manifest, and we
should find Mercury retracing its path along exactly the same straight
line that it had taken in its outward journey.
Not only so, but its motion would be accelerated just in the same
proportion that it had decreased on its outward journey. On and on
through the intervening space the planet would rush, and if there were
no centrifugal force in existence, the planet would ultimately rush into
the central body, the sun, and being swallowed up by it, would maintain
for a time the heat thereof.
Let us now view the case from the conjoint working of these forces, or
motions, the centripetal and centrifugal, and we shall see, that under
certain conditions it is possible to conceive physically of a planet
being in a state of rest as stated in Newton's First Law of Motion, and
also remaining in that state of rest, until it is compelled by other
forces or motions to change that state. Mercury is now situated at its
mean distance of about 36,000,000 miles. At the same instant let both
the centrifugal and the centripetal forces or motions be applied to it,
and to the sun. What is the result of such application? Will the planet
move nearer the sun, which we are supposing to be perfectly at rest, or
will it be urged further away? The effect is nil! for the simple reason,
that when we set in motion the centripetal force of Gravitation, at
exactly the same time we set in motion an exactly opposite force which
is the exact complement and counterpart of the other, so that they
exactly counterbalance each other, and Mercury under the influence of
both forces still retains its mean position of 36,000,000 miles; and,
until we either set the sun rotating, or give it a motion of its own
through space, Mercury would remain at its distance of 36,000,000 miles
comparatively at rest. The same reasoning may be applied to all the
other planets, in relation to their mean distances, with the result that
they too would remain in a comparative state of rest, so long as they
were only under the influence of the two forces or motions, viz. the
centrifugal and centripetal.
Each of these, being the exact complement and counterpart of the other,
when applied together to any planet of any size or mass or density, at
any distance, fails to affect the distance of that planet in its
relation to the sun, but simply establishes it in that distance, subject
to certain regulations dependent upon other motions of the sun, and the
aetherial medium in which they exist. Thus we learn, that if, in the
beginning, Mercury were formed at a distance of 36,000,000 miles, it
would for ever remain at that distance; and the same is true of the
other planets at their mean distances, no matter what their mass or
density may be; and that, according to the first law of motion, the
planet would remain in a state of rest until compelled by other forces
or motions to change that state, when it would continue moving with
uniform motion so long as the motive power applied was uniform.
If, however, the motive power applied was not uniform, then the result
would be an increase or decrease of the planet's motion, just in
proportion to the increase or decrease of the motive power. This result
is in perfect harmony with our statement in Art. 15, and is in
accordance with observation and experience.
ART. 99. _Second Law of Motion._--According to Newton's Second Law of
Motion, "Change of motion is proportional to the impressed force, and
takes place in the direction in which the force is impressed."
From a consideration of this Law (Art. 15) we saw that the impressed
force was a compound quantity, being regulated by the mass of the moving
body which exerted the impressed force, and that it was also
proportionate to the velocity of the moving body; so that if either of
these quantities are changed, the total impressed force would be changed
also.
We have now to show that our aetherial medium agrees with this second
law of motion in so far as the second law of motion agrees with
experience and experiments. To do this, we must review our conception of
the universal Aether, and remember that Aether is matter, and being
matter, it is atomic and gravitative, possessing density, elasticity,
inertia, and kinetic energy, the same as any other moving matter.
In this Aether medium we have, according to this conception, something
that can both push and pull, or exert force upon any body with which it
comes into contact. Further, the inertia and kinetic energy of the
Aether at any part of space will be regulated by its mass in that
particular part, and if its mass is denser in some parts than others,
that part of the aetherial medium possessing the greatest mass will also
possess the greatest capacity for impressing force upon any body that
exists in the medium. Now we have learned from Art. 45 that Aether being
gravitative, it is denser nearer to the sun, getting gradually less and
less dense, the further it recedes from the central body, except where
it is bound or associated to some other planet or satellite, and there
it gradually gets denser, for the same reason that it is denser nearer
to the sun. As, therefore, the Aether gets gradually less dense as it
recedes from the sun, the density of the Aether at the mean distance of
Mercury, 35,900,000 miles, would not be so great as near the sun's
surface; while the density of the aetherial medium at the distance of
Venus, 67,000,000 miles, would be less than the density of the aetherial
medium at the distance of Mercury. This principle may be applied right
through the sun's aetherial electro-magnetic field, until we come to the
mean distance of Neptune, which is 2,780,000,000 miles, and there the
density of the Aether would be less than at any other part of the
aetherial electro-magnetic field around the sun.
So that the mass of the Aether at Mercury, which is equal to the number
of aetherial atoms per unit volume, is greater than the mass at Venus.
Thus the impressed force which the aetherial medium at the mean distance
of Mercury can exert upon any body in its neighbourhood, is greater than
the impressed force which the Aether can exert upon any body at the
distance of Venus, because of its decreased mass at that distance. In
the same way it can be proved that the impressed force which the
electro-magnetic Aether exerts on any body at the distance of Venus, is
greater than the impressed force which the Aether exerts upon a body at
the mean distance of the Earth. So that at the respective mean distances
of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the
electro-magnetic Aether, if in motion, would exert less force at each
of the mean distances of these planets exactly proportionate to the
decreased mass and decreased velocity of the Aether.
Now what is the motion which the Aether possesses, so far as the sun is
concerned? because, upon the particular kind of motion which it
possesses will depend the direction in which the impressed force will be
exerted according to the second law of motion.
In Art. 98 we supposed the sun and planets to be stationary in the solar
system, each planet being at its respective mean distance, from which it
cannot move owing to the equality of the two forces. Now give to the
central sun from whence the electro-magnetic Aether waves flow, a
rotatory motion on its own axis, which it really possesses, as it
rotates on its axis once in every twenty-six days nearly, and this will
give to the Aether medium a circular or rotatory motion. This circular
or rotatory motion the Aether has already been proved to possess (Art.
91, where we learned that all solar magnets were caused by
electro-magnetic aetherial currents constantly circulating round them).
So that the Aether will actually possess two motions: 1st, a radial
motion due to the Aether waves generated by the sun, which are radiated
out into space with the velocity of light; and 2nd, a circular or
rotatory motion. This result is in perfect harmony with our hypothesis
as to the cause of the electro-magnetism of the sun (Art. 91, where we
saw that solar magnetism was due to electric currents circulating round
the various planets), and we have proved that the Aether has an
electro-magnetic basis; thus the rotatory Aether currents and the
rotatory electro-magnetic currents are due to one and the same medium.
Now what will be the effect of these circular or rotatory Aether
currents on the bodies situated within their field? It must be
remembered that we are no longer dealing with a frictionless medium, but
with a medium which possesses inertia and kinetic energy the same as any
other moving matter. Therefore, as soon as it is set in motion, it will
impress its motions upon all planets that come under its control and
influence, with the result that as the impressed force is ever directed
in a circular form, the planet will be pushed along through space by the
moving Aether, and the path it describes will be circular also.
Thus the actual result of the rotatory electro-magnetic Aether currents
will be, that all dependent and associated planets under their influence
will be carried by them around the central body which generates the
Aether currents. So that they will literally and truly have an orbit,
and the circle they describe will be, in its size and circumference,
regulated by the mean distance of each planet, which mean distance will
form the radius of the circular orbit.
Further, as we shall see later, if the sun were always stationary, and
had no orbital motion of its own, then the orbit of each planet would
always be circular, each planet always occupying its mean distance from
the sun, because at that mean distance the centripetal and centrifugal
forces are equal.
That the actual path of any planet is a circle has been proved by Sir W.
R. Hamilton. Tait, in his _Natural Philosophy_, on this point writes
(Art. 38): "The Hodograph for the motion of a planet or comet is always
a circle, whatever be the form and dimensions of the orbit." This path
has been termed the Hodograph. So that we have in the circling
electro-magnetic Aether currents a physical explanation for the
Hodograph of any planet.
In applying the rotatory Aether currents to the various planets, and in
endeavouring to find out the quantity of the force impressed upon the
various planets at their mean distances, by those currents, we have to
take into consideration, as we have already seen, two facts, viz. the
mass of the Aether at any point in space, and the velocity of the Aether
at the same point. We will first take the effect of the difference in
mass. We have seen that at the distance of Mercury from the sun the
density of the Aether is greater than at the distance of Venus, and that
the density at Mars is greater than the aetherial density at the Earth,
the aetherial density decreasing the further the Aether recedes from the
sun.
What, therefore, is the effect of the decreased density of the Aether on
each planet? Even supposing the velocity of the moving Aether is the
same at the respective mean planetary distances, which it is not, the
total impressed force at the respective mean planetary distances will
gradually be decreased upon the various planets, proportionate to the
decrease in the mass and density of the Aether.
So that on Mercury, which is pushed along by a denser electro-magnetic
Aether than Venus, the impressed force, according to Newton's Second Law
of Motion, will be greater than the impressed force exerted by the
moving electro-magnetic Aether on Venus; and, consequently, Mercury
should have a greater velocity through space than Venus, due partly to
the difference of the aetherial mass and density, by which the impressed
force or motive power that acts upon Mercury is produced.
In the same way, Venus should have a greater velocity through space than
Mars, and Mars a greater velocity than the Earth. The same principle, when
applied to the outer planets, equally holds good; with the result, that
the greater the mean distance, the less the orbital velocity of each
planet, due partly to the decreased aetherial density at the increased
distance from the sun. But this is only part of the cause. Not only is
there a decrease in density of the Aether, as the distance from the sun
is increased, but there is also a decrease in the velocity of the moving
Aether, with the result that the Aether at the distance of Mercury,
possesses a greater angular velocity than at the distance of Venus.
It may be at once asked, How do we know that? Well, Philosophy alone can
give us the key, and Philosophy tells us to base our theories and
hypotheses on experience and experiment. Now what does experiment and
experience teach us as to the effect of a body revolving in any medium
upon that medium? If experience teaches us anything at all, it teaches
us that the further away any medium is from the revolving body, the less
is the angular velocity of that medium at that distance, while the
nearer the medium is to the revolving body, the greater is the angular
velocity.
This applies in each and every case, whether the medium is either fluid
or gaseous, and I will challenge the reader to perform any experiment on
any solid body rotating in a fluid or gaseous medium, and prove by that
experiment that the angular velocity of the outermost part of the fluid
or gaseous medium is equal to the angular velocity of the medium
directly associated with the body, or even at a short distance from it.
But we have most conclusive evidence of the fact that a solid body does
not communicate all its rotational surface motion to the medium directly
in contact with that body in the case of the earth revolving on its
axis, surrounded by an atmosphere. If the principle held good anywhere
in relation to a revolving body, viz. that the whole of the rotational
velocity is communicated to the medium surrounding the body, it should
certainly hold good at the surface of the body where the two media, the
solid and gaseous media, meet.
If a solid body fails to impart all its rotational velocity to the
medium there, then it will certainly fail to impart its full rotational
velocity to the enveloping medium 100 miles away, and fail still more at
a distance of 1000, and still more at a distance of 100,000,000, and so
on proportionate to the distance.
What, then, is the effect of the rotational velocity of the surface of
the earth on the atmosphere near to it? We know that the velocity of the
surface of the earth is greatest at the equator, as at that place the
circumference of the earth is about 25,000 miles, but the further we get
away from the equator, and the nearer we get to the North and South
poles, the velocity of the surface decreases, simply because the
circumference of the earth decreases.
Or, to reverse the statement, the velocity of the surface of the earth
is least at the poles, but increases the nearer we get to the equator.
It is also familiar knowledge that there are currents of cold air ever
moving from the North and South poles to the equatorial regions near the
surface of the earth. Thus the cold air currents, in passing from the
North and South poles, are ever passing over surfaces which are
increasing in velocity as they journey on their way to the equator. This
of course occurs all round the earth, so that the earth is continually
revolving in these currents, and if the rotational velocity of the
surface of the earth were wholly imparted to the air directly over its
surface, then the currents would be always flowing due North and South.
If, however, the earth fails to impart all its rotational velocity to
the atmosphere, or the atmosphere fails to pick up the whole of the
rotational velocity at once, then the result will be that the atmosphere
as it passes over the surfaces of greatest velocity will lag behind,
because its rotational velocity will be less than the velocity of the
earth's surface.
Now this is exactly what does happen in regard to the atmosphere, with
the result, that instead of getting winds blowing due north and south,
we get what are known as Trade Winds, which blow north-east in the
northern hemisphere and south-east in the southern hemisphere. Here then
we have direct experimental proof on a large scale of the very principle
I have stated, viz, that a medium surrounding any rotating body does not
move through the whole of its extent with the same velocity as its does
at the surface. Thus it can be seen that the velocity of the rotating
Aether will be greatest at the surface of the sun, but its angular
velocity will decrease the further the medium recedes from the sun.
The same principle can easily be proved from an electrical standpoint;
for if we consider the Aether currents as electric currents, no one
would think of suggesting that the intensity of the currents was the
same at a distance of several million miles away, as it is near the
source of the currents, which in this case may be looked upon as the
sun, because at its surface we have the greatest electric potential
(Art. 80).
So that we see from this reasoning, that not only is there a decreased
mass of the Aether at the distance of Venus, compared with Mercury, but
there is also a decreased velocity in the rotatory electro-magnetic
Aether currents, with the result that the impressed force exerted upon
Venus is less than the impressed force exerted upon Mercury, and
therefore Venus should move slower through space than Mercury, which is
exactly what happens, as Mercury has an orbital velocity of 29 miles per
second, while Venus has an orbital velocity of 22 miles per second.
As the angular velocity decreases in proportion as the distance
increases, it follows that at the respective mean distances not only of
Venus, but also of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the
capacity of the Aether to exert its impressed force upon the various
planets will decrease as the distance increases, with the result that
the farther a planet is from the sun, the less force will the Aether
currents exert upon that planet, with the result that its orbital
velocity should decrease as the distance increases, and this is
perfectly in accordance with planetary phenomena.
Here, then, we have at once a physical basis for Newton's Second Law of
Motion, the results of which are entirely in harmony with observation
and experiment, and whose conception fully satisfies all the Rules of
Philosophy; as it is simple in conception, fully agrees with observation
and experiment, and satisfactorily explains the Second Law of Motion
sought to be explained.
Thus we find that from the physical standpoint, as well as from the
mathematical standpoint, "Change of motion is proportional to the
impressed force, and takes place in the direction in which the force is
impressed," that is, in a circular direction.
We have therefore arrived at exactly the same result that Newton arrived
at, except that he had to introduce a third factor, viz. the
Parallelogram of Forces, while we have produced the result by a simpler
method, which, according to his own rules, is more philosophical, as all
effects are produced by the simplest causes, as Newton himself stated in
Rule 1. Thus it is the rotatory electro-magnetic Aether currents that
urge the planets round the sun; and, as will be shown later, it is the
same Aether currents in combination with the other motions that give
rise to the physical cause of Kepler's Laws. It is the electro-magnetic
Aether currents that produce the regular decrease in the velocity of the
planets in their orbits, because of the regular decrease of the mass and
velocity of the Aether currents themselves.
We have now a physical cause as well as a mathematical explanation of
the decrease of the velocity of a planet in its orbit, which physical
cause is in perfect harmony with all philosophical rules. The following
table shows the gradual decrease in the velocity of each planet as the
various planets recede from the sun--
MEAN PERIOD OF VELOCITY IN
DISTANCE. REVOLUTION. ORBIT PER HOUR.
Mercury 35,900,000 87.9 days
Venus 67,000,000 224.7 77.000
Earth 92,700,000 365.2 66.500
Mars 141,000,000 686.9 53.000
Jupiter 482,000,000 4,332.6 28.744
Saturn 884,000,000 10,759. 21.221
Uranus 1,780,000,000 30,687. 14.963
Neptune 2,780,000,000 60,127. 11.958
ART. 100. _Aether and Third Law of Motion._--We have seen (Art. 16) that
action and reaction are equal and opposite, and that it is true of the
centripetal force in its application to all matter throughout the
universe. If, therefore, the centrifugal force is the exact opposite of
the centripetal force, then the Third Law of Motion should equally hold
good in relation to that force also.
We have, therefore, to form a physical conception of the application of
the third law of motion, as it relates to the centrifugal force. As we
have already learned, this force is due to the universal
electro-magnetic Aether, which being gravitative, surrounds all atoms
and molecules that may exist throughout the whole universe. It can
readily be seen, therefore, that if the Aether surrounds every atom and
molecule, then each atom repels another atom or molecule when the two
forces are in equilibrium with exactly the same intensity with which the
atom and molecule attract each other.
But the centrifugal force in each case is due to the pressure of the
Aether, which presses always proportionately to the density of the
Aether surrounding the atom or molecules, as suggested by Professor
Challis.
The mean density, however, of each atomic or molecular atmosphere is
regulated solely by the mass of the atom or planet, therefore the
pressure exerted by one atom on another is proportionate to the mass of
each atom, and to that extent is strictly in accordance with the law
which governs the proportion of the forces between the two atoms or
molecules. If, therefore, we have two atoms, A and B, of different
masses, then it is true that while A exerts a pressure on B, which
pressure takes the form of a repulsion, at the same time B exerts a
pressure on A which is equal and opposite in its character and
intensity, and in each case the pressure is due to the aetherial medium
which surrounds each atom or molecule.
When the atoms are equal in mass, then the resultant motion produced on
each atom would be exactly equal, but when the masses vary, the
resultant motion produced on each atom would vary also, though the
momentum in each case would be exactly equal and opposite, as momentum
is a compound term dependent partly upon the mass of the body concerned.
In Art. 16 we saw that when this third law was applied to planetary
phenomena, not only did the sun attract all the planets, but all the
planets attracted the sun with equal and opposite forces, and the
planets also attracted each other with equal and opposite forces. In the
same way it can be proved, that as the sun repels all the planets by the
pressure exerted by the aetherial centrifugal force on those planets,
the planets repel the sun with an exactly equal and opposite force at
their mean distances. In Newton's conception, however, of the third law
of motion, there was simply mathematical data to deal with, by which the
law was shown to apply to the planetary and stellar world. In the case,
however, of the centrifugal motion, we have a definite physical medium,
which by its motions produces the pressure on the planets or suns that
exist in space, which pressure forms the physical centrifugal force that
forms the counterpart of Gravitation Attraction.
Let us look at this phase of the case in detail, and by so doing help to
establish and confirm the physical existence of the force or motion
referred to. We have learned from Chapter IV. that as Aether is
gravitative, it surrounds all satellites and planets, suns and stars
that exist in the universe.
We have also learned from Art. 86 that Aether has an electro-magnetic
basis, as mathematically proved by Maxwell and experimentally proved by
Hertz. Thus we came to the conclusion that each satellite and planet,
sun and star, was an electrified body (Art. 81), or an electro-magnet
(Art. 88), possessing its own electric or electro-magnetic field.
We also learned that in every electro-magnetic field there was a
pressure which was ever directed away from the body that generated the
electro-magnetic waves. Now, as every satellite and planet, sun and
star, is a generator of these waves according to our theory, it follows
that every satellite and planet, sun and star, is the centre of a
centrifugal force, which centrifugal force is regulated by the mass of
the satellite, planet, sun or star which gives rise to the centrifugal
force or motion.
Now, in relation to all electro-magnetic action, it can be
experimentally demonstrated, that action and reaction are equal and
opposite, so that if we have two electrified or magnetized bodies, then
the joint forces of attraction or repulsion between them are equal and
opposite. This being so, when we apply the same law of action and
reaction to the planets' influence on each other, it follows that the
same law must hold good in relation to them.
So that if we compare the repulsive powers of two planets on each other
in the solar system, say the Earth and Jupiter, then, according to the
third law of motion, the repulsive action of Jupiter on the Earth is
exactly equal and opposite to the repulsive action of the Earth on
Jupiter. If we compare the Earth and the sun, the repulsive action of
the sun on the Earth is exactly equal and opposite to the repulsive
action of the Earth on the sun, that action or force being caused
directly by the electro-magnetic Aether waves, which are generated by
each electric, or electro-magnetic body.
Thus, as the third law of motion is true of the centripetal force,
whether in relation to the atomic world, or in relation to the solar
system, or even to the universe at large, seeing that the centrifugal
force is the exact counterpart in every way of the centripetal force,
exactly fulfilling all the laws which govern it, it follows as a matter
of absolute necessity that the third law is also applicable to its
complement or counterpart also, or else it would cease to be the
complement and counterpart of the centripetal force.
ART. 101. _Why Planets revolve from West to East._--In Art. 99 we have
seen that the revolution of the planets around the sun is produced and
maintained by the electro-magnetic Aether currents, which are generated
by the axial motion of that electro-magnetic body. There is, however,
another effect produced, and another scientific fact which can be
accounted for by the circulating motions of the Aether medium, viz. that
the orbital direction of each and all the planets would not only be in
the same direction, but they would also be in the same direction as the
sun's rotation on its axis.
So that, whichever way the sun turns upon its axis, that way, and that
alone, should be the orbital direction of all the planets in which they
are circled round the sun by the circulating electro-magnetic Aether
currents. It is the sun's axial motion that partly gives to the Aether
currents their circling motion, and it is the circling motion of the
Aether currents that gives rise to the orbital motion of the planets,
literally carrying them round the sun by their kinetic energy and power.
Therefore, if this be true, whichever way the sun turns upon its axis,
that will be the direction in which the Aether currents must circle
round the sun, and in that direction the planets should travel in their
orbits. As must readily be seen, it is the inevitable result of the
established working of the electro-magnetic Aether currents. If the sun
rotated on its axis from east to west, then the electro-magnetic Aether
currents would also travel in the same direction, from east to west, and
the planets would then revolve round the sun from east to west.
If the sun, however, rotates on its axis from west to east, then, if
there are such electro-magnetic Aether currents in existence, as those
we have already proved to exist, they, too, would travel from west to
east, and as a natural result the planets, which are carried round the
sun by the currents, would also possess the same orbital motion, that is
from west to east.
As is well known, the sun rotates on its axis from west to east,
therefore the Aether currents also rotate from west to east, with the
result that the orbital directions of all the planets should also be in
the same direction, from west to east. Now, as is well known, all the
planets without exception, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, all travel round the sun from west to east.
Here, then, we have indisputable evidence of the existence and mode of
working of the electro-magnetic aetherial currents, whose action alone
can produce the phenomena with which we are so familiar, and for which
there must be some physical cause. I am not aware that any reason or
explanation either mathematical or otherwise has ever been given, or
even suggested, as to the cause of the phenomena which we have just
endeavoured to explain.
Indeed, there can be no other physical explanation of the fact, that all
the planets revolve round the sun in the same direction that the sun
rotates on its axis, than the one here given, viz. that the cause is to
be found, and alone found, in the circulating electro-magnetic Aether
currents which are generated in the Aether by the electro-magnetic body,
the sun. Again, in order to confirm the existence of these Aether
currents that exist in space, not only those generated by the sun, but
also by all the other electro-magnetic bodies, as all the planets (Art.
88), we will consider the working of the same upon the satellites of
those planets which possess them.
The Earth we know has one satellite, the moon, Mars has two satellites,
Phobos and Deimos, Jupiter has five satellites, Saturn has eight
satellites, while up to the present Uranus has been found to possess
four, and Neptune one. There is, however, little doubt but that both
Uranus and Neptune possess more than those already discovered, as it is
inconceivable that Jupiter and Saturn, which are nearer to the sun,
should possess a greater number of satellites by which the nights of the
respective planets are illuminated, while the further planets, which
need the increased lighting, because of the decreased intensity of the
aetherial light waves at the increased distance, possess apparently a
less number of satellites, and therefore less illumination for their
respective nights.
But what have these satellites to teach us as to the existence of the
electro-magnetic aetherial currents that circulate round the planets? We
have to apply a similar course of reasoning to the planets, as we have
done in the case of the sun. If the sun is an electro-magnetic body, by
its axial rotation it generates rotating Aether currents, and those
Aether currents partake of the same rotation as the revolving body, that
is, from west to east. In a like manner each planet, being an
electro-magnet, generates electro-magnetic aetherial currents which also
possess the same rotation as the planetary body which gives rise to
them.
So that if the planets rotate on their axes from east to west, the
Aether currents will also rotate from east to west, but if the rotation
of each planet is from west to east, then the rotation of the Aether
currents associated with each planet will also be from west to east,
with the result that each satellite will be carried round its primary
planet by the circulating Aether currents in exactly the same way as the
planet rotates on its axis.
Now if this is the case, then we have further evidence of the existence
of the circulating electro-magnetic Aether currents, not only those
associated with the sun, but those also associated with each of the
planets, as explained in Art. 91. It might have been urged in the case
of the planet's revolution round the sun being in the same direction as
the sun's axial action, that such a fact was merely a coincidence, but
such an objection loses its force if it is proved that the same
principle or truth when applied to other bodies equally holds good. When
we come to analyze the direction of the satellites round their primary
planets, we find that each satellite has an orbital motion, or is
carried round its central and controlling planet by that planet's Aether
currents in exactly the same direction that the planet rotates on its
axis, viz. from west to east. So that we have in the orbital direction
of the satellites, as we have also in the orbital direction of the
planets, conclusive evidence of the existence and mode of working of the
Aether and of the electro-magnetic currents generated in that aetherial
medium by the electro-magnetic bodies which rotate in it.