CORRECTIONS FOR GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY HYPERPHYSICS

Re: Newtonian Mechanics vs Electricity & Magnetism Education

CORRECTION #1

PUMP vs BATTERY vs Water Tower

A mechanical water pump is NOT the same mechanical equivalent of a battery which is an

energy storage device. However a water tower IS a correct mechanical interpretation of a

battery because they both store potential energy.

CORRECTION #2

PIPE RESISTANCE vs WIRE RESISTANCE

Resistance to water current flow in a pipe is not the equivalent of electrical resistance in a

wire.

The water - pipe analogy gives students a faulty perception that somehow electrical wire

resistance and mechanical pipe resistance are the same and require a “pushing” action in

order to generate current flow against the wire’s resistance – which is not true.

This error in perception becomes more obvious and glaring when the battery is replaced with

an “equivalent” device such as electric generator.

The input energy required to produce an electric current flowrate in the electrical circuit is

the exact opposite as the input energy required by the mechanical pump.

In the Newtonian Mechanics view:

When water pipe resistance increases,

water current flowrate decreases and

mechanical input power increases.

BUT

In the Electricity and Magnetism view:

When electrical wire resistance decreases,

electric current flowrate increases and

mechanical input power increases

because a magnetic field exists around ALL current bearing wires in the electrical

circuit.

CORRECTION #3

ELECTRIC CIRCUIT TIME CONSTANTS vs NO TIME CONSTANTS

“Time delays violate Newton's Third Law [and the Law of Conservation of

Energy] because even an infinitesimal time without the second force

violates the idea of force-pairs and hence of Newton's Third Law."

~ Professor Nathaniel Lasry, Physics John Abbot College

CONCLUSIONS:

Trying to squeeze the Laws of Electricity and Magnetism into a woefully ill equipped

Newtonian Mechanics view is a fool’s errand and cannot be done correctly or honestly. The

most obvious shortcomings already presented visually are explained below.

CORRECTION #1 MECHANICAL PUMP vs BATTERY vs WATER TOWER

Equating a mechanical pump to an electric battery is very misleading

because a battery is an energy storage device whereas a pump is not.

Replacing the pump with an energy storage device such as a water

tower that stores energy as potential and requires an energy input in

relation to that energy storage just like a battery is more accurate.

CORRECTION #2 PIPE RESISTANCE vs WIRE RESISTANCE

Equating mechanical water pipe resistance to

electric wire resistance visually in the same

breath is very illogical and ill informed

because it implies by association that

mechanical pipe resistance and wire

resistance share similar characteristics when

in fact they are diametrically opposed.

As the pipe resistance increases the pump has to do more work if the flowrate is to be

maintained in the mechanical analogy whereas the battery does less work. The battery’s

workload is at a maximum when the wire resistance is zero.

CORRECTION #3 ELECTRIC CIRCUIT TIME CONSTANTS vs NO TIME CONSTANTS

The only possible way to reconcile a Newtonian Mechanics 3rd Law with an electrical analogy

is to deliberately ignore an inductor’s Time Constant Rise Time.

Lenz’s Law certainly is valid and does apply in some inductor

performance but it has never correctly represented Newton’s 3rd

Law because Newton’s 3rd requires simultaneous action-reaction

and inductors cannot comply with this demand.

CORRECTION #4 CURRENT BEARING WIRE MAGNETIC FIELD vs WATER PIPE’S NO MAGNETIC

FIELD

Poor old Sir Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday would both be rolling over in their graves if

they knew how their mutually exclusive works have been clumsily mashed together by

today’s physicists and scientists in a effort to use one great work to explain another great

work while ignoring the primary essences of both...

Newton went through all the trouble to give us his 3rd Law and we ignore the critical timing

component required to satisfy the law because it’s too inconvenient.

Faraday showed us how the magnetic fields

produced around all current bearing

wires are really important and we

ignore that too.

A mechanical water flow pipe analogy

can never be used to accurately describe

an electrical circuit because a water

pipe does not produce a magnetic field

around it.

Attempting to do so only confuses the

student and leads him or her down an

incorrect path which must be unlearned

when they enter the real world.

Kind regards

Thane

Thane C. Heins President & CEO Potential +/- Difference Inc. R & D "We generate solutions" Email: thaneh@potentialdifference.ca YOUTUBE http://www.youtube.com/user/pdicanada1 Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=107557432&trk=tab_pro slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/ThaneCHeins