Episode 29: The Electric Field - The Mechanical Universe

Episode 29. The Electric Field: Faraday's vision of lines of constant force in space laid the foundation for the modern force field theory.
“The Mechanical Universe,” is a critically-acclaimed series of 52 thirty-minute videos covering the basic topics of an introductory university physics course.
Each program in the series opens and closes with Caltech Professor David Goodstein providing philosophical, historical and often humorous insight into the subject at hand while lecturing to his freshman physics class. The series contains hundreds of computer animation segments, created by Dr. James F. Blinn, as the primary tool of instruction. Dynamic location footage and historical re-creations are also used to stress the fact that science is a human endeavor.
The series was originally produced as a broadcast telecourse in 1985 by Caltech and Intelecom, Inc. with program funding from the Annenberg/CPB Project.
The online version of the series is sponsored by the Information Science and Technology initiative at Caltech. ist.caltech.edu
©1985 California Institute of Technology, The Corporation for Community College Television, and The Annenberg/CPB Project

[@erictko85]

5:59 - 8:00 incredible. One of my favorite segments from the whole series. Thank you!

[@andyeverett1957]

@ 26:40 scaffolding in not normally throw away when you are finished a building it is reused on another building. Great video, thank you.

[@douglasstrother6584]

I think Faraday, Maxwell & others would be amazed by application of the concept of fields in Modern Physics.

[@jennalee5967]

I remember some of the brightest civil/chemical engineering students, struggled with grasping the extreme abstract of electricity.

[@scienceandphilo]

25:37 I dont understand how someone get bored listening to David Goodstein.

[@brainstormingsharing1309]

Absolutely well done and definitely keep it up!!! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@MrBeatrixKiddo]

AWESOME SERIES!! 😁

[@vickash1072]

no episode in any series will ever be more important to me.

[@mikespulligan]

Why would anyone thumb down this video? That astonishes me. Someone hates knowledge? wow

[@decasT]

Maybe because of the POV of Virtual Photons mediating the Electric Force. It is a beautiful video anyway.

[@fitofight8540]

Too basic for him

[@Its_Stunt]

probably forced to watch it by their teacher like me, but i like it

[@universocalculado4639]

Bom , pelo que pude ouvir , Faraday entendeu que a força elétrica variando com o inverso do quadrado da distância significava que algo deveria ser emitido das cargas elétricas , assim como a intensidade da luz emitida pelo Sol , pois se imaginarmos uma esfera envolvendo o Sol ( ou as cargas elétricas ) a área dela também iria variar com o quadrado da distância ( A = π.r² ) , por isso Faraday imaginou essas linhas de força , o que foi uma jogada de mestre para a criação da ideia do campo elétrico ( E = k.Q/r² ) .

[@Heraclit33]

Crazy magnetic series!

[@michaelgonzalez9058]

The electricity in and surrounding a quantum computer is extra maneuverable power of fof the computer

[@mohammedrehman4109]

Wow. Beautiful. 👌👌👌👍👍👍👍

[@benquinneyiii7941]

No luminiferous aether required

[@michaelgonzalez9058]

In dark space there is immitation friction

[@michaelgonzalez9058]

To the surface of earth

[@douglasstrother6584]

I disagree with Dr. Goodstein on the consequence of Faraday's lines of force. The electric and magnetic fields are as real as the charges and currents which generate them. The synthesis of Faraday's Physics and Maxwell's mathematics was the great product from their collaboration. As you get into more complicated E&M problems (Jackson, Zangwill, real-life, etc.), the importance of a solid physical understanding of a situation is key to constructing a mathematical solution. Try to solve the Physics problem before you solve the Math problem; the math can get pretty hairy pretty fast.

[@carlpage3003]

Thank you! Someone who understands the physical truths of reality are more important than mathematical formulas! Thank you!

[@douglasstrother6584]

@@carlpage3003 I've found the physical/geometrical approach electromagnetism very powerful in understanding boundary conditions, interfaces and developing a good sense of "order of magnitude" of fields, current & charge distributions. Also, I think Faraday, Maxwell & others would be amazed by application of the concept of fields in Modern Physics.

[@davidporowski9512]

Like & Subscribe GR8 Review, Thanks

[@goosew3266]

This is so annoying. Whoever put the Annenberg Media logo at the front of these videos really made a mistake. It throws the whole audio off the video. I have watched these lectures more than once, so I know there was not always this Annenberg Media introduction. Can someone please put it back to what it was?

[@goosew3266]

yay! they fixed it

[@Overtime123]

26:05 he meant 'are protons real'

[@andyeverett1957]

I think he was correct, like the lines of force that can't be seen quarks also can't be seen. Both concepts are useful.

[@JivanPal]

No, he meant quarks. Protons are certainly real. Quarks are invisible, but the theory of quarks provides a neat framework for explaining the behaviour of all the baryons and mesons, rather than treating all of them as elementary particles. For comparison, consider also that before we discovered that atoms were not elementary particles, the likes of Mendeleev thought that the elements of the periodic table were elementary - but then why should there be so many of them, potentially infinitely many?

[@goerizal1]

tesla demonstrated the efficacy of the faraday cage in preventing the passage or penetration of the electric field inside it-something edison could never imagine.

[@michaeljagdharry]

this is amazing THIRD

[@AzTK96]

Second! :v

[@dedskin1]

Get the tittle " Electric field and Mechanical universe " , man " Electric field and Electric Universe " , its just one word to change , and all our Cosmology changes , for the better , and more accurate .

[@Chicken_Little_Syndrome]

Amen my friend. Amen.

[@dedskin1]

@@Chicken_Little_Syndrome Yeah man , strange to find souls these days able to see the truth . But let me tell you something , as far as i looked in history all up to the present day , there was always ppl who knew it . But the system hides it . Shit i found it in Aztecs , they call it Teotle , its energy causing lightning strikes so they knew it , and in their Cosmology , that is the source of everything . Everywhere i look , Ancient Egypt top God , RA, Ray , Light , electromagnetic field . Everywhere . And we have Tesla who said , everything is Light . Might as well say RA, so whats Jesus Christ , hes the Sun of that God or Horus . It all eventually leads there , where ever i look. But you have Peasants not knowing anything firstly , and then they are Brainwashed with Black Holes and there you go Idiots . But obviously you are not one of those , hence you are free . Thats good to see .

[@JivanPal]

@@dedskin1 *_"and then they are Brainwashed with Black Holes and there you go Idiots ."_* Uhh... what?

[@dedskin1]

@@JivanPal So i guess you dont think black holes that are out there to get you are brainwashing . Fine . But did you ever think about it ,read about it , studied it . I did . Do you know how big is a Black Hole at least ? No you dont , its a trick question , Its not big at all its smaller then Atom. And do you know how far its Gravity reaches ? Infinitely because its mass is what ? Infinite . In the Universe with 10 black holes then what would happen ? They would eat everything and there would be no universe . Obviously there is a universe , so Black holes dont exist . This is pure logic , if its wrong tell me where and how is it wrong .

[@toxicpsychotic6356]

@@dedskin1 For how far its gravity reaches, that's a totally meaningless question. Gravity is a force that acts over an unlimited distance by default. Everything's gravity has an infinite reach. The gravity of a grain of sand has an infinite reach. This doesn't say anything about how massive something is. For size, the most reasonable metric for that is the radius of the event horizon, which varies. The largest known black hole is many times the radius of neptune's orbit around the sun, while the smallest known black hole is comparable in size to manhattan. Microscopic black holes have been theorized but have never been confirmed to exist. What makes you think a black hole has infinite mass? Their mass is equal to the mass of what went into them. Black holes are literally separated into categories according on how much mass they have, you have to be absolutely clueless about them to think they have infinite mass. Why do you think they would "eat everything"? A black hole doesn't pull things into it any more than a star of equal mass would. If the sun were to collapse into a black hole right now, all of the planets in the solar system would continue to orbit it as normal, not suddenly start to fall into it. You claim to have "read about it, studied it" yet you clearly lack even the most rudimentary level of basic knowledge of what black holes are or how they're supposed to work. How do you expect to be able to prove something wrong when you can't even be bothered to do the tiniest bit of research on it? Logic means nothing if it's all based on a bunch of obviously flawed assumptions.