The number of substances
Definitions of “substance”
include
- “that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent”,
- “that which has mass and occupies space”,
- “something that can exist by itself”,
- “tangible physical matter”,
- “any solid, liquid or gas”,
- “density in kg.m-3”
- ...
By any of these definitions it is possible to imagine that there are thousands of
different substances around. Each one of the hundred or so different elements could
be classified as a substance as well as any combination between them. Hence wood,
metal, plastics, water, glass, flesh and bones could all be described as different
substances.
When it was discovered that all of these
“substances” were made from the same three particles (neutrons, protons
and electrons) but in different amounts, then it could be argued that there were
only three ultimate “substances”
and that the things we commonly called
“substances” should be reclassified as something else such as “materials”. But then it was claimed that two
of these particles, the proton and the neutron were both made of smaller particles
called gluons and quarks, but again in different proportions. But quarks are supposed
to exist in six different flavours. Does this mean that each of the quarks is made
from a different substance or are these again made from even smaller particles but
in different proportions? My preferred definition of a substance is
“Something that occupies space and which, if capable of being subdivided into other
components, they can be shown to differ only in density”
The definition needs density because it is possible to imagine say an iron vessel
from which everything possible is sucked out and then heated so that iron atoms
are vapourised from the vessel walls and exist as a gas trapped within the vessel.
The only difference between the vessel and its contents would then be one of density.
By my definition of a substance, an atom is not a substance but a mixture of substances
and according to current atomic theory it follows that neither are protons and neutrons.
Even if quarks and gluons are shown not to exist, a neutron cannot be shown to differ
from a proton just by means of its density because one is supposed to have an electrical
charge and the other to be electrically neutral. And as these particles also differ
from an electron by more than their densities, an electron must be a third different
substance. And then there are photons. These again differ from the three atomic
particles in ways that cannot be put down to density alone and so must constitute
a fourth substance.
Theories that claim there is an aether consisting of particles require yet another
substance. And if it is believed that forces are carried by particles such as gravitons,
another substance is required. Then there is the so called Higgs particle that is
believed to be responsible for mass. And what about the myriad of other particles
such as neutrinos, muons, etc.? Just how many substances does current atomic theory
require? Neither do current theories tell us what energy is and how it is able to
appear in many different guises.
FET is unlike any other theory ever proposed because it
does not require more than one substance to exist. It shows that by assuming energy
to be something real that occupies space and has a variable and measurable density
it is a true substance. Not only does it show how neutrons, protons and electrons
are each composed solely of energy, it shows how each particle is formed and why
they differ from each other. Photons are also shown to be composed entirely of energy
and why they come in a limited range due solely to their energy content and why
they physically become larger as they shed energy at a steady and predictable rate.
As for other particles, we should be aware that apart from the neutrino they are
all extremely short lived and have only been inferred from tracks and mostly in
particle accelerator experiments. The FET interpretation
of them is that in these experiments the forced collisions between nucleons could
result in one or more of them being prevented from spinning. This would kill the
centripetal force and release all of the solidified energy as fluid energy. Because
this would create a very high local continuum energy density, whirlpools associated
with intact nucleons would then draw in this energy at vastly enhanced rates giving
rise to the characteristic spiral tracks. Linear tracks would be characteristic
of high energy photons being emitted or from fast moving fragments of nucleons left
over from colliding particles.
The notion of mass was introduced in order to quantify the amount of a substance
but because FET defines energy as being a real substance
it can quantify everything in terms of an amount of energy and hence the notion
of mass is superfluous. The neutrino was introduced in order to account for the
apparent loss in mass in nuclear reactions but as FET does
not require the notion of mass the neutrino is also surplus to theoretical requirements.
So according to FET, there is only one fundamental
substance and that everything that exists is made of this one substance. So what
we commonly refer to as being different substances, such as wood metal etc. are
just different arrangements of the one and only substance, energy, and should
possibly be referred to as materials. They only appear to be different to us
because they absorb, emit and reflect light in different ways and they feel
different because they interchange different amounts of energy with us when we
touch them and they only exhibit different physical porperties because of the
different ways that nucleons can combine to form stable nuclei.
FET also predicts that only one particle exists, the
neutron that exists in two states, one as a solitary core of solid energy and
the other as a solid core of energy with an attached region of fluid energy,
i.e. a hydrogen atom. Photons can be considered to be self-sustained and
therefore isolated regions of fluid energy and therefore pulses of energy moving
at light speed through the continuum rather than as particles.