We go about remarking that we are very lucky and thank God when we pass out of a difficult examination or when we find that we have scored very good marks. But there are very many far greater instances where we unfortunately fail to recognize how lucky we are. I present before you now, from a physicist’s point of view, two such instances, where I find that we are amusingly lucky, yet are unaware of it.
Mass of an electron:
When I said, ‘from a physicist’s point of view’ I meant it, and you should have expected nothing else. We all know at least something about the Big Bang theory of the Universe. So I shall not go deep into it. After the Big Bang, a second or so later, the Universe was just a flood of energy. As time passed, it turned into protons and electrons and all that. As we know, because of the opposite charge of the particles, they started attracting each other and formed atoms. Here is where the mass of the electron plays its role. Electrons have a rest mass of 9.109 x 10-31 kg. If the mass of the electron were to be a one-millionth of its present mass more, the proton would no longer be able to attract the electron. In that case, if still the Universe developed, you would see, a good Sanjeev (made only of protons) and a bad Sanjeev (made only electrons). Anyway, the fact is that if this were to be the case, the Universe would not have developed, and you and your neighbour and yes me too, would be hanging out naked out in the Open Space as group of positive and negative mass. Now, whatever we know about physics, we do not know why the electron has the mass that it has now. The only plausible explanation is, ‘God chose that exact mass, so that atoms would be formed, and eventually we too come into being.’ To put it in a nutshell, electrons have that exact mass so that humans could exist.
When I said, ‘from a physicist’s point of view’ I meant it, and you should have expected nothing else. We all know at least something about the Big Bang theory of the Universe. So I shall not go deep into it. After the Big Bang, a second or so later, the Universe was just a flood of energy. As time passed, it turned into protons and electrons and all that. As we know, because of the opposite charge of the particles, they started attracting each other and formed atoms. Here is where the mass of the electron plays its role. Electrons have a rest mass of 9.109 x 10-31 kg. If the mass of the electron were to be a one-millionth of its present mass more, the proton would no longer be able to attract the electron. In that case, if still the Universe developed, you would see, a good Sanjeev (made only of protons) and a bad Sanjeev (made only electrons). Anyway, the fact is that if this were to be the case, the Universe would not have developed, and you and your neighbour and yes me too, would be hanging out naked out in the Open Space as group of positive and negative mass. Now, whatever we know about physics, we do not know why the electron has the mass that it has now. The only plausible explanation is, ‘God chose that exact mass, so that atoms would be formed, and eventually we too come into being.’ To put it in a nutshell, electrons have that exact mass so that humans could exist.
Gravitation:
The need for the Gravitational force can quite easily be explained without unnecessary exaggeration. By the way, the story that Newton was inspired by an apple falling on his head is apocryphal. It is contradictory to the fact that Newton was thinking about Gravity when an apple fell on his head. Anyway, without gravity, the Universe would still not have developed, and you and your neighbour and yes me too, would be hanging out naked out in the Open Space as bunch of identity-less atoms. No Sun to shine, no moon to enjoy and no cells to be, just a big big bunch of atoms.
Suppose there was no gravity, there would only be atoms, independent ones. The biggest thing in the whole wide Universe would be .., an atom!! Imagine a Universe like that. And the funniest part of it is that, we do not know why such a force as Gravity even exists. So once again, the only plausible explanation is, ’God decided that there be Gravity so that atoms would be formed and eventually we come into being.’ To put it in a nutshell once again, gravity exists only so that there can be humans.
I shall keep it simple now. I hope I have made my point clear. Next time you say the Morning Prayer, add these lines:
Thank you that the rest mass of an electron is 9.109x10-31 kg.
Thank you that the Universal Gravitational Constant is 6.6something. (Don’t be bothered)
Next time you look at the sky on a clear moonless sky, think to yourself, there are billions of stars out there and nearly nine billion planets. Yet we find no life form there. It is not used by any creature at all. So why does it all exist? Only for you to look and enjoy. So everything from the stars to the dust particles under your feet exists only for you. Make sure you do not utilise them improperly.
The need for the Gravitational force can quite easily be explained without unnecessary exaggeration. By the way, the story that Newton was inspired by an apple falling on his head is apocryphal. It is contradictory to the fact that Newton was thinking about Gravity when an apple fell on his head. Anyway, without gravity, the Universe would still not have developed, and you and your neighbour and yes me too, would be hanging out naked out in the Open Space as bunch of identity-less atoms. No Sun to shine, no moon to enjoy and no cells to be, just a big big bunch of atoms.
Suppose there was no gravity, there would only be atoms, independent ones. The biggest thing in the whole wide Universe would be .., an atom!! Imagine a Universe like that. And the funniest part of it is that, we do not know why such a force as Gravity even exists. So once again, the only plausible explanation is, ’God decided that there be Gravity so that atoms would be formed and eventually we come into being.’ To put it in a nutshell once again, gravity exists only so that there can be humans.
I shall keep it simple now. I hope I have made my point clear. Next time you say the Morning Prayer, add these lines:
Thank you that the rest mass of an electron is 9.109x10-31 kg.
Thank you that the Universal Gravitational Constant is 6.6something. (Don’t be bothered)
Next time you look at the sky on a clear moonless sky, think to yourself, there are billions of stars out there and nearly nine billion planets. Yet we find no life form there. It is not used by any creature at all. So why does it all exist? Only for you to look and enjoy. So everything from the stars to the dust particles under your feet exists only for you. Make sure you do not utilise them improperly.
1 comment:
Amiable brief and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you seeking your information.
Post a Comment