5 ms·
I mean, matter is mostly empty space…
by rrr_oh_man 3y ago
I mean, matter is mostly empty space…
- IshKebab 3y agoOnly if you really distort the definitions. The "empty space" you are thinking about is the matter. You can't just put other stuff there. There's a similar wrong meme about how you never really "touch" anything.
- amelius 3y ago> There's a similar wrong meme about how you never really "touch" anything. Ok, what is the exact moment you touch something? How close do the atoms need to be?
- vortegne 3y agoWhen weak interaction starts happening.
- z2h-a6n 3y agoHow about this: two objects are touching when the interaction forces between the objects are of similar magnitude to the interatomic forces within the objects. Very generally speaking, this will happen when the distance between the objects is about the same as the distance between atoms within the objects.
- amelius 3y agoOk, so I conclude from this that touching is not an exact science.
- z2h-a6n 3y agoTo be somewhat pedantic: "touching" is a word. The extent to which it is or is not an "exact science" depends on what is meant by "touching", and by "exact science". The definition I gave of "touching" could be made arbitrarily more precise by specifying more precisely the interaction forces under consideration, and the level of precision to which one should compare their magnitudes. What you mean by "exact science" is something I cannot guess at with any useful level of precision. Whether or not any of this has any bearing on the original topic of discussion is another matter.
- amelius 3y agoI mean, the actual interaction force that defines "touching" is open for debate. Touching is an abstract concept, removed from actual physics.
- z2h-a6n 3y agoThat was sort of my point. If we use a definition of "touching" that is relevant to the atomic scale, whatever that definition is, we can reasonably talk about what "touching" means at an atomic scale. If we use a colloquial definition of "touching" which is meaningful for macroscopic objects but not at the atomic scale, it doesn't make sense to talk about "touching" at the atomic scale.
- temporarely 3y agoDo this for 'touching fire' to clarify the actual issue.
- IshKebab 3y agoThere isn't an exact moment, any more than there is an exact height that is "tall". And yet, tall people exist.
- amelius 3y agoThe tallest person in the world will say that only normal and short people exist.
- williamdclt 3y agoI'd bet very good money that they wouldn't say that, no
- hacker_88 3y agoexcept protons. These are infinitely dense