The Unification Of Forces

There is much effort in the physics community to find a way to unify the basic forces of the universe such as the strong nuclear force, electromagnetism and, gravity. By the way, the so-called "strong" nuclear force is not an adjective but is distinguished from the weak nuclear force, which is a different force altogether. I have thought of a simple way to unify the forces and there is a maxim in physics that the simplest explanation for something is usually the best explanation.

The strong nuclear force operates only in the close confines of the atomic nucleus. The positive charges of the protons in the nucleus should mutually repel and thrust the nucleus apart, yet they do not. The strong nuclear force overcomes the mutual repulsion of the like-charged protons and holds the nucleus together.

However, the strong nuclear force never occurs except in the presence of neutrons. There always must be neutrally-charged neutrons present in order for the positively-charged nucleus to hold together. I am sure that this strong nuclear force results from the ability to twist around the internal charges in the neutrons so that it's negative charges are facing outward and thus holding the protons in place and the nucleus together.

As we know, both protons and neutrons consist of three quarks. The charges within the neutron balances out to zero and the proton to +1. This means that the strong nuclear force is actually electromagnetic in nature. The strong nuclear force is, as the name implies, by far the strongest of the basic forces of nature. This can be simply explained by the fact that the nucleus is so tightly packed together. As powerful as it may be, the strong force acts only over the extremely close distances within the nucleus.

The electromagnetic force is the next of the basic forces of the universe. It is far weaker than the strong nuclear force. But this relative weakness can be explained in a very simple way. The root of the electromagnetic force is the electrons in orbit around the nucleus of the atom. Although it may not seem so to us, atoms consist almost entirely of empty space. The most often used model is that of a large sports stadium. If the electron orbits are the rows of seats, the nucleus could be compared to a strawberry in the middle of the playing field.

The electric charges on the electrons are equal but opposite to the charges on the protons. However, even though electrons are far smaller than protons ( A proton or neutron is 1,836 times the mass of an electron) they are spread, in their orbits, over a far wider area. The electromagnetic force is really of the same nature as the strong nuclear force but the strong force is concentrated in the tightly packed nucleus while the electromagnetic force is spread over the vast (by comparison) outer atom as the electrons dart around in their orbits.

I am sure that if the electrons formed a solid shell around the nucleus, or they were concentrated in one place as the protons are, we would find that the two are approximately equal in value. The difference between the strong force and electromagnetism can be compared with seeing an object up close compared to at a distance. The electromagnetic force is nowhere near as strong as the strong nuclear force but in return, it operates over far greater distances.

Next, we come to gravity. It is by far the weakest force of all but it makes up for it by being cumulative so that it is the force that runs the universe on a large scale. The size scale of stars shows how weak gravity is in comparison with the strong nuclear force. As a mass of material builds up, the gravity inside it naturally becomes more and more powerful. When the point is reached where the cumulative gravity becomes strong enough to overpower the forces within the atom and force atoms together, binding energy in those atoms is released in the form of heat and light. The mass of material begins to glow from within and we have what is known as a star.

The vast amount of matter necessary to form a star illustrates the weakness of gravity in comparison with the strong nuclear force. The sun, a slightly larger than average star, is about 1.64 million km (a million miles) in diameter. To see how weak gravity is in comparison with the electromagnetic force, we need only to pick up a piece of iron or steel with a small magnet. The magnetic force is strong enough to overpower the gravity of the entire earth.

My belief is that gravity is also electromagnetic in nature. The attractive force between unlike charges is known to be slightly stronger than the repulsion between unlike charges. So with the vast amount of matter in the universe, this slight difference must be manifested in some way and it is. There is a net attraction between objects in space. This attraction is what we refer to as gravity. The force of gravity takes the exchange of strength for distance much futher than the electromagnetic force has. But the distance factor allows gravity to make up for it's inherent weakness by being cumulative so that it can eventually overpower even the strong nuclear force and a star is born.

The reason that gravity is so weak is simply that atoms are so empty. Once again, we come back to a large sports stadium as the classic model of the inside of an atom. The only really solid part of the atom is the strawberry in the middle of the playing field representing the nucleus. I think of the vastness of the stars that we can see as an inverse mirror image as the emptiness of the atoms that we cannot see. If atoms were more solid or electrons had more mass, stars would be smaller.

My hypothesis is that all three of these basic forces are really different manifestations of electromagnetism. If atoms were solid, the positive nucleus in the middle and a solid negative outer shell instead of the orbiting electrons, the strong nuclear force and electromagnetism would be roughly equal in strength. If an infinite number of atoms could then be packed together, gravity would become approximately equal to the other two.

I do not believe that these basic forces are innately woven into the universe as it may seem to us. They are the result of how atoms formed. If atoms would have come together differently when matter formed, these forces would today be different.

I have left a fourth force out of this, the weak nuclear force that breaks apart large nuclei associated with radioactivity but I believe it to be a failure of the strong nuclear force. So, let's make the universe really simple. There are two electric charges, negative and positive, opposite charges attract and like charges repel, everything else is details.