Synthesized answer
According to the passages, Lewis’s drastic revision of Newtonian mechanics was made necessary by two specific experimental advancements: experiments showing a change in the mass of an electron with speed, and the phenomenon of radioactivity, which together created doubt about the validity of some general laws of nature [1]. Additionally, recent theoretical publications by Einstein and Comstock on the relation of mass to energy emboldened Lewis to publish his views, which had previously seemed purely speculative but were now corroborated by advances in experimental and theoretical physics [2].
The passages state that Newtonian mechanics assumed the mass of a body is independent of its velocity, but this axiom must be replaced because experiments (such as Kaufmann’s on electron mass) show that mass increases with kinetic energy [3][4]. Lewis’s new system retains the conservation laws of mass, energy, and momentum, but constructs a mechanics where mass is a function of velocity, becoming infinite at the speed of light, and where kinetic energy varies between 1/2 mv² at low velocity and mv² at the velocity of light [3][4]. Thus, the revision is required to bring mechanics into…
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From the book
ose fundamental principles of the mechanics of ponderable matter which have remained unaltered since the time of Newton. The recent experiments which indicate a change in the mass of an electron with the speed, together with the phenomenon of radioactivity, have in some minds created a doubt as to the exact validity of some of the most general laws of nature. In the following pages I shall attempt to show that we may construct a simple system of mechanics which is consistent with all known experimental facts, and which rests upon the assumption of the truth of the three great conservation…
← A revision of the Fundamental Laws of Matter and Energy ( 1908 ) by Gilbert Newton Lewis → related portals : Relativity Philosophical Magazine, 1908, 6 16 (95): 705-717, Online 412006 A revision of the Fundamental Laws of Matter and Energy 1908 Gilbert Newton Lewis THE LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE AND JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. [SIXTH SERIES.] NOVEMBER 1908. LIX. A Revision of the Fundamental Laws of matter and Energy. By Gilbert N. Lewis . Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry, Massacussets Institute of Technology, Boston . R ECENT publications of Einstein and…
y motion imparted to it increases its mass, or when a certain force will give it the same acceleration in any direction. It is true that metaphysicians hold that in the strictest sense absolute motion is not only unknowable but unthinkable, but we may say at least that the above method permits theoretically the detection of absolute translational motion in the same sense that a study of centrifugal forces enables us to detect absolute rotational motion. Summary . It is postulated that the energy and momentum of a beam of radiation are due to a mass moving with the velocity of light. From this…
an mechanics and assuming the conservation laws of mass, energy, and momentum, a new system of mechanics is constructed. In this system momentum is mv , kinetic energy varies between 1/2 mv² at low velocity and mv² at the velocity of light, while the mass of a body is a function of the velocity and becomes infinite at the velocity of light. The equation obtained agrees with the experiments of Kaufmann on the relation between the mass of an electron and its velocity. It is, moreover, strikingly similar to the equations that have been obtained for electromagnetic mass. The new view leads to an…
of demolishing our theory actually furnishes a remarkably satisfactory argument in its favour. Non-Newtonian Mechanics . One of the interesting branches of modern mathematics has grown out of the study of those geometries which would result from the change of one or more of the axioms of Euclid. These non-Euclidian geometries present the properties of purely imaginary kinds of space and are therefore so far mere exercises in logic, without any physical significance. But their investigation was doubtless prompted in some cases by the belief that experiment itself may sometime show that there…
More questions about this book
- The text suggests that phenomena like "a change in the mass of an electron with the speed" and "radioactivity" created doubt about "the exact validity of some of the most general laws of nature." How might these specific observations *appear* to challenge one or more of the "three great conservation laws" Lewis ultimately seeks to uphold?
- Lewis proposes to build a "simple system of mechanics" consistent with known facts and resting on the conservation laws. Articulate, as if explaining to a peer, the historical significance of *reaffirming* the conservation of mass and energy in 1908, given the scientific landscape described in the excerpt.
- Describe the phenomenon of light pressure and how its experimental verification, combined with the law of conservation of momentum, "inevitably leads" to the conclusion that a beam of light possesses momentum. Why is this particular insight crucial for Lewis's revision of fundamental laws?
- Considering Lewis's 1908 publication date and his reference to Einstein, how does this "revision of the Fundamental Laws of Matter and Energy" reflect the broader conceptual revolution in physics occurring at the beginning of the 20th century? What previously held assumptions about the nature of matter and energy are being challenged and potentially integrated?