Physicists will tell you that there are four forces governing the universe, possibly five. They are as follows: Electromagnetism, the weak force, the strong force, gravity and dark energy, the last one have an admitted asterisk after its name. I am not a physicist, and have at best a marginal understanding of quantum mechanics, but my understanding is that they work like this:
Electromagnetism is the force that governs the almost impossibly small- photons and electrons, the particles which would appear to be the size of an atom if you were the size of an atom. Its also the force that makes your computer work, makes a rose red, gives you a spark if you walk across the rug and touch someone.
The weak force is the one I always have to look up. My understanding is that it affects certain types of quarks and sub atomic particles including neutrinos, particles which are dwarfed even by protons and neutrons. Its presence in your day to day life can be a little hard to track, but nonetheless its there.
The strong force affects protons and neutrons, binding them together in the nucleus of the atom. Its incredibly powerful, but only at a very short distance, which is why the atoms of large elements like uranium tend to degrade overtime. Its also why when you split an atom it releases tremendous amounts of energy.
The forth force is gravity. Unlike the four other forces which are best defined by quantum theory, gravity is still the realm of Albert Einstein. Gravity is the weakest of the forces, but also the one whose affect is dominate on the things we can see. It is why Im sitting on this couch, why the earth goes around the sun, why the sun is slowly rotating around the center of the Milky Way.
These four forces are all well and good, but it turns out that they dont predict everything. The universe, it turns out, is expanding at an incredible rate, one which cant be explained at all. To compensate for this scientists have postulated a fifth force, one which works on a truly galactic scale. You might want to hope that this isnt true, by the way, because the dark force is eventually going to tear everything apart, right down to the atoms in your body. They will eventually be literally light years apart, although of course youll be dead by then.
Physicists have been working to connect these forces together, they hope to one day discover that these are all one force, that there is one force, one force which creates and envelopes and eventually destroys the entire universe. This is an elegant idea that is vaguely reminiscent of Obi Wan, but so far it hasnt worked. Theoretical physicists have tried a number of different mathematical gymnastics to make this work, up to and including 26 dimensional models of the universe, but so far they havent gotten there. This in my opinion is because there is a sixth force which they have yet to define. The sixth force, in my opinion, dominates objects which are neither extremely large nor extremely small.
I have studied this force extensively, and will continue to do so. It affects a maddeningly small number of objects in the known universe, and behaves in ways that are completely unquantifiable. As with both the weak force and dark energy, there are some people who are insistent that it doesnt exist at all. However, as long as its out there, physicists cannot predict how the universe will end, because its the one force that is completely unpredictable. Everything else is just billiard balls. If you could work that one in with the other five, then you'd have everything.
Electromagnetism is the force that governs the almost impossibly small- photons and electrons, the particles which would appear to be the size of an atom if you were the size of an atom. Its also the force that makes your computer work, makes a rose red, gives you a spark if you walk across the rug and touch someone.
The weak force is the one I always have to look up. My understanding is that it affects certain types of quarks and sub atomic particles including neutrinos, particles which are dwarfed even by protons and neutrons. Its presence in your day to day life can be a little hard to track, but nonetheless its there.
The strong force affects protons and neutrons, binding them together in the nucleus of the atom. Its incredibly powerful, but only at a very short distance, which is why the atoms of large elements like uranium tend to degrade overtime. Its also why when you split an atom it releases tremendous amounts of energy.
The forth force is gravity. Unlike the four other forces which are best defined by quantum theory, gravity is still the realm of Albert Einstein. Gravity is the weakest of the forces, but also the one whose affect is dominate on the things we can see. It is why Im sitting on this couch, why the earth goes around the sun, why the sun is slowly rotating around the center of the Milky Way.
These four forces are all well and good, but it turns out that they dont predict everything. The universe, it turns out, is expanding at an incredible rate, one which cant be explained at all. To compensate for this scientists have postulated a fifth force, one which works on a truly galactic scale. You might want to hope that this isnt true, by the way, because the dark force is eventually going to tear everything apart, right down to the atoms in your body. They will eventually be literally light years apart, although of course youll be dead by then.
Physicists have been working to connect these forces together, they hope to one day discover that these are all one force, that there is one force, one force which creates and envelopes and eventually destroys the entire universe. This is an elegant idea that is vaguely reminiscent of Obi Wan, but so far it hasnt worked. Theoretical physicists have tried a number of different mathematical gymnastics to make this work, up to and including 26 dimensional models of the universe, but so far they havent gotten there. This in my opinion is because there is a sixth force which they have yet to define. The sixth force, in my opinion, dominates objects which are neither extremely large nor extremely small.
I have studied this force extensively, and will continue to do so. It affects a maddeningly small number of objects in the known universe, and behaves in ways that are completely unquantifiable. As with both the weak force and dark energy, there are some people who are insistent that it doesnt exist at all. However, as long as its out there, physicists cannot predict how the universe will end, because its the one force that is completely unpredictable. Everything else is just billiard balls. If you could work that one in with the other five, then you'd have everything.
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