What is Ether: Definition and 101 Discussions

Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula R–O–R′, where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be classified into two varieties: if the alkyl groups are the same on both sides of the oxygen atom, then it is a simple or symmetrical ether, whereas if they are different, the ethers are called mixed or unsymmetrical ethers. A typical example of the first group is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "ether" (CH3–CH2–O–CH2–CH3). Ethers are common in organic chemistry and even more prevalent in biochemistry, as they are common linkages in carbohydrates and lignin.

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  1. M

    Why is the use of tert-butyl methyl ether favoured over using diethyl ether?

    Homework Statement Why is the use of tert-butyl methyl ether favoured over using diethyl ether? Homework Equations No equations needed The Attempt at a Solution After the formation of trans-stilbene, tert-butyl methyl ether was used to dissolve trans-stilbene. Water was added to dissolve any...
  2. L

    Is quantum field theory the return of the ether?

    Hi, My question is about why quantum fields are used. Are quantum fields just a reinvention of the ether? It seems like something superimposed on spacetime (from which theoretically spacetime should emerge in the case of gravity) from which particles can pop in and out of. How wrong is...
  3. K

    Lorentz ether frame, Relativistic Mass, and Inertia

    It is obvious from particle accelerators that accelerating a mass increases its inertia. That should be a valid observation in all frames. But if the angle between the acceleration vector and the velocity vector is relative to the observer, then whether the mass is accelerating or...
  4. Buckethead

    Is Ether the Missing Piece in Understanding Space Warping?

    I'm about to purchase a book on Amazon by this title where the author describes Einstein's interest in a "new" ether, a relativistic ether that in no way compares to the clasical ether of the 19th century but an ether just the same. If all this is true, I was glad to hear about it. With...
  5. S

    Using small samples of ether is better in an extraction?

    Homework Statement Show that using small volumes of ether solvent in an extraction from aqueous phase is better than using larger volumes. The total volume of organic solvent, amount of material to extract, aqueous volume and distribution constant are the same. You can do this with an...
  6. D

    Why did Michleson assumed that ether is moving ?

    Why did Michelson assume that ether is moving ? I mean why didn't he assume that Ether doesn't move and that is why speed of light doesn't change ? .. If Earth is moving in a direction, speed of light is "c".. if it is moving in the other direction, speed of light is "c" too .. because the...
  7. grav-universe

    Exploring the Concept of an Ether vs. Fabric of Space-Time in LET and SR

    LET, Lorentz ether theory, is identical to SR but invokes an ether as the cause of length contraction and time dilation with motion through the ether. With it, there are no strange conceptualizations according to each observer's own particular reality for what they observe of other frames, but...
  8. L

    Proof of the non-existence of ether

    Guys, I have started reading Special Relativity and used the Feynman Lectures as my starting point. As I noted, he started well with the concept of ether and told about Michelson-Morley experiment. There, to explain the results of experiment, he told Lorentz Contraction and supposed it to be...
  9. B

    PLEASEE HELP dimthyl ether, MD.

    PLEASEE HELP! dimthyl ether, MD. i have a one year program and i have to research on the oxidation of dimethyl ether(DME). my professor has given me the option to work with him on the theoritical nature of the reaction, or to build up a molecular dynamic simulation from scratch. I really want...
  10. R

    Does Ether Exist? 19th Century Evidence

    During the 19th century, it was proposed that light travels through vacuum in the presence of a pseudo medium known as ether. But does it really exist? Is there any evidence whether it exists or not?
  11. F

    How does the swimmer analogy explain the movement of light in the ether?

    On the Ether "Swimmer Analogy" I am a high school student working through Lillian Lieber's The Einstein Theory of Relativity. She addresses Michelson's "swimmer analogy" (that light traveling through the ether could be compared to a swimmer traveling in a stream). I am confused as to how, in...
  12. F

    Special Relativity Question: On the Ether

    I am a high school student working through Lillian Lieber's The Einstein Theory of Relativity. In the introduction to the ether, it is assumed that the ether would not move with the Earth. Although Lieber does cite one book (Understanding Relativity, Sartori), presumably including the several...
  13. V

    A new interpretation of ether

    Here I try to explain what I read somewhere- that the speed of light has decreased over the last couple of centuries. If it is reported that the speed of sound is decreasing in a solid, you may say thatdue to continued vibrations and deformations of the solid, its modulus of elasticity has...
  14. V

    Einstein’s return to ether, what future of relativity?

    Dear friends, In 1920, Einstein had made a quotation as; "According to the general theory of relativity space without ether is unthinkable; for in such space there not only would be no propagation of light, but also no possibility of existence for standard of space and time...
  15. maverick280857

    How does CMBR differ from ether (SR self study - Question from W. Rindler)

    How does CMBR differ from ether (SR self study -- Question from W. Rindler) Hello everyone First of all, apologies for a previous post which was against forum rules. I was unaware that I had violated the rules by posting a link to a paper that wasn't from a proper peer-reviewed scientific...
  16. J

    General theory of relativity space without ether is unthinkable

    ”According to the general theory of relativity space without ether is unthinkable; for in such space there not only wonld be no propagation of light, but also no possibility of existence for standards of space and time“...this in an statement given by einstein...please tell me what is the ether...
  17. R

    Ether and how it was disproved.

    Hello, i am relatively new to Physics and find the subject fascinating, really seems to give insights into the unvierse like religion/spirituality does. I was reading "A brief history of time" by Stephen Hawking and in the chapter "Space and time" he discusses Ether and how it was disproved...
  18. S

    Purpose of ether in Grignard reagent preparation

    Homework Statement Regarding the preparation of benzoic acid via a Grignard reagent: *Initial bromobenzene solution includes bromobenzene, magnesium metal and anhydrous ether. Once the initial bromobenzene/Mg solution undergoes boiling, you forget to add additional anhydrous ether to the...
  19. S

    Is the Luminiferous ether still a valid concept?

    Yeah, unless you look at Miller and Allais's work. A close inspection of all the interferometer tests conducted will turn up some surprising results. First off, all the interferometers in all the tests ever done detected a fringe shift. The debate centered on whether that fringe shift...
  20. R

    Ether Existed Before Big Bang?

    Does anyone know if this ether which light traveled through existed before the Big Bang?
  21. K

    Exploring Solvents for ASA: Why Not Ether or Chloroform?

    Homework Statement I am trying to help my son with his experiment with asa(aspirin). He titrated asa powder that was dissolved in isopropyl alcohol with NaOH. One of the questions in the inquiry was why were ether or chloroform not used to dissolve the asa? I am not certain that the answer...
  22. T

    Does Einstein's belief in a new ether contradict the principle of relativity?

    It's becoming a little more well-known in recent years that Einstein was in fact a strong advocate for a "new ether" from 1916 until his death. He denied the 19th Century version of the ether in his 1905 paper on SR, and spent about 11 years defending his banishment of the ether from physics...
  23. Z

    Separating Benzophenone and Salicyclic Acid in Diethyl Ether

    Background: Extraction lab using diethyl ether as solvent. Mixed an unknown mixture of benzophenone and salicyclic acid. Try to separate the 2.2 Questions: 1 In separation of ether sol'n from NaOH layer, some of the sol'n was left behind in the ether solution, how would that change the...
  24. B

    Ether hypothesis and M/M Experiment not needed

    ...For Relativity... In fact, Relativity should have come about even if there was no ether hypothesis to justify the Law of the Constancy of the Velocity of Light. In fact, I'm kind of surprised James Clerk Maxwell didn't come up with Special Relativity himself in 1857...
  25. E

    Ether with a speed of at least 3x10^4 m/sec?

    Why in this experiment was it safe to assume that at some time of the year the Earth should be moving relative to the ether with a speed of at least 3x10^4 m/sec??
  26. J

    Chemical reactions with ether?

    chemical reactions with hydrochloric acid does p-toluidine hydrochloride dissolve in HCl?? When it combines with HCl, what would it produce?
  27. T

    Dark Matter vs Ether: What's the Difference?

    how is dark matter different from the old "ether" theory
  28. C

    On The Ether Concept In Physics

    Notes by ScienceWeek: In the late 19th century, what we now call "classical" physics incorporated the assumed existence of the "ether", a hypothetical medium believed to be necessary to support the propagation of electromagnetic radiation. The famous *Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887 was...
  29. J

    What's wrong with Michelson's explanation of ether dragging?

    The null result of the Michelson-Morley experiment led Lorentz to believe that the ether can never be detected because it distorts things in the direction that they move with respect to it. But from what I've read, Michelson himself explained the result by saying that the ether must somehow be...
  30. W

    Einstein's ultimate conclusion regarding ether and Relativity?

    Hi again. I just re-read the paper from 1920 where Einstein ponders "ether". Based on General Relativity he seemed to conclude that there must be something in space besides nothing. It does not have mechanical properties as the old "aether" was assigned before Relativity, but it must be capable...
  31. K

    A photon as a phonon in ether?

    Hi everyone, I've been doing some good old thinking about the photon, and how it is a particle/wave etc, and kind of came up with an analogy that kind of works for me, and was wondering if it was applicable. I kind of related it to the idea of a phonon, as a phonon can be considered a...
  32. F

    Why are people joining PF just to defend their pet topics?

    I have noticed this more and more lately and I am really wondering about this... Have you noticed that a thread will be posted about any kind of topic. Engineering, physics, politics, etc...It doesn't matter. If you get the right type of topic, there is, a lot of times, someone that comes...
  33. Pythagorean

    Exploring Ether and Space: Maxwell's Equations and Beyond

    The skepticism thread reminded me of a question I had for the professionals here. A lot of Electrodynamics (especially the idea of displacement current) was developed by Maxwell with the idea of Ether in mind. I'm not trying to argue that the ether-as-we-know-it actually exists, but the...
  34. J

    Ether before relativity in quantum theory also

    I think this all makes sense to me, but I've never heard of this in lectures or in books, so I'll check if I'm getting this right. In one dimension Galilean coordinate transformations are x'=x-ut and t'=t. Momentum transforms as p'=p-mu, and energy is E=p^2/(2m). With a quick calculation I get...
  35. E

    Stellar aberration and Fresnel ether drag

    I'm interested in the prehistory of the history of relativity. In this history the nature of light and the ether comes in. One phenomenon that was debated in this context was stellar aberration: that the positions of the stars in the sky change slightly, or, more precisely, the perceived...
  36. Pengwuino

    MM ether experiment/length contraction

    Ok I have this equations Michelson and Morley used: Delta t = t_2 - t_1 = \frac{2}{c}(\frac{{l_2 }}{{\sqrt {1 - \frac{{v^2 }}{{c^2 }}} }} - \frac{{l_1 }}{{1 - \frac{{v^2 }}{{c^2 }}}}) I need to show that if the length is contracted along the direction of motion, the result comes out to...
  37. P

    What is Lorentz' Ether? Lorentz' ether

    Lorentz' "ether" I have recently read a paper written by H.A. Lorentz in which he repeatedly referred to an "ether"... what seems strange to me is i am not sure what this ether is, and it is only described as how it can manipulated mathmatically. It has appeared in more than one of his...
  38. S

    Unseen Dark Matter: Exploring Its Possible Existence and Impact on Nucleus Decay

    Return of the Ether? - There are reasons to believe that the universe contains much unseen dark matter. If it exists, it might be as undetected particles. - The word "spontaneous" in "spontaneous decay" makes the phenomenon sound as though it were an effect without a cause. There is an...
  39. chem_tr

    About Williamson ether synthesis

    I am planning to perform some Williamson synthesis. However, I have not been successful on obtaining a literature with described procedure. Will I need any procedures? I have looked at Organic Syntheses website (website url), but no procedures on the Williamson's technique. My plan is simple...
  40. O

    Why ether proves speed of light?

    When Einstein conducted thought experiments, he imagined himself moving at the speed of light with a mirror in front. He was later forced to discard the idea of ether and he concluded that light must travel at the speed of light regardless of wherever and whatever speed an observer is moving...
  41. Reshma

    Ether Drag Hypothesis Explained - 65 Characters

    Can someone explain me the ether drag hypothesis?
  42. S

    Is Ether Essential for Electromagnetic Wave Propagation?

    It is known that the concept of Ether was present in the whole of the Universe was started by Maxwell for representing the material medium for the travel of the electromagnetic waves. Question 1: Why Ether and not any other substance i.e., what are the special properties of the Ether...
  43. X

    Ethyl ether can react with cold concentrated H2SO4?

    I wonder if ethyl ether can react with cold concentrated H2SO4. I think that it cannot react but I still not sure because my books don't say anything about temperature condition. What about heated concentrated H2SO4, can it react without water or alcohol just only conc. sulfuric acid. Thank you...
  44. B

    Doesn't light's constant speed dictate an 'ether'?

    firstly, I'm an ignoramus secondly, doesn't the fact that lights speed cannot be affected by the speed of a body that emits it suggest the existence of an ether? sound waves wouldn't exist without the 'ether' of air and so you can say that the air is the only thing that slows down sound...
  45. P

    If there is no Ether how can we talk about light being a wave?

    If there is no Ether how can we talk about light being a wave?
  46. I

    An ether theory with GR limit and EEP

    If you think that ether theory is crackpot nonsense, look at gr-qc/0205035. A quite classical ether in Newtonian framework of absolute space and time, with continuity and Euler equations as conservation laws, gives an effective metric theory of gravity with exact Einstein equivalence principle...
  47. O

    Is There a Place in the Universe That is Truly at Rest?

    Looking for the Ether ! I am relatively new to relativity (pardon the pun)and have found this a fascinating forum. I am trying to come to grips in my little mind about a place in the universe that is truly at rest with respect to everything else in the universe. Is there such a place? How can...
  48. E

    Understanding the Ether Test: Scientists' Determination and Implications

    How I understand how scientists determined if there was ether or not was through a test. This test was to send light from the equator to the north pole and to send light an equal distance along the equator. If there was to be ether then the photon traveling along the equator would take...
  49. L

    2 Tests will explain Small Ether drift measured by D. Miller

    Test 3: Dual GPS one-way Lightspeed tests outside the LASOF area. The oscillating quantum vacuum frame will originate a difference in the (one way) light speed between two GPS satellites in space (up and down), measured parallel with the orbital propagation direction of the Earth around the...
  50. S

    Did Einstein Believe in the Aether? Deciphering the Controversial Claims

    Mr. Robin Parsons and I were discussing this issue on another thread. He claims sources show that Einstein confessed his belief in the "aether" after 1919 and thereafter held to that view. I showed him an Einstein quote from 1920 in which E. said "The aether of the general theory of relativity...
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