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Now this sounds interesting! Is this really "negative mass" or is that marketing spin? Thoughts?
Paper: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.155301
Washington State University physicists have created a fluid with negative mass, which is exactly what it sounds like. Push it, and unlike every physical object in the world we know, it doesn't accelerate in the direction it was pushed. It accelerates backwards.
from - https://phys.org/news/2017-04-physicists-negative-mass.html
To create negative mass, the researchers applied a second set of lasers that kicked the atoms back and forth and changed the way they spin. Now when the rubidium rushes out fast enough, if behaves as if it has negative mass."Once you push, it accelerates backwards," said Forbes, who acted as a theorist analyzing the system. "It looks like the rubidium hits an invisible wall."
"[...] it doesn't accelerate in the direction it was pushed. It accelerates backwards."
Negative effective mass, yes?ZapperZ said:An air bubble is water has negative mass.
LoganNagol said:does the equation "k=1/2mv^2 " still apply to negative mass?
LoganNagol said:If it did, does that equal to negative energy?
There are two kinds of momentum, "true" momentum and effective momentum, the latter one being also called "crystal momentum" for the more specific case of particles moving in a crystal.CWatters said:When i saw the news article i wondered how conservation of momentum worked out? For example if you push something away from you and it accelerates towards you then to maintain conservation of momentum don't you also have to accelerate towards the object? Its as if the negative mass of the object somehow gives you negative mass as well?
Not even close. Sorry.Lwadz88 said:So are we talking alcubieere drive or no?
The phenomenon is subtle, and some news sources inaccurately described the paper as heralding the advent of a fluid with “negative mass.” Some headline writers, connecting the results with warp drives, antimatter particles, and the end of “physics as we know it,” had many physicists wagging their fingers.
“Undeniably, a number of news outlets sensationalized the results,” Peter Engels and Michael Forbes, senior researchers on the experiment, told APS News. “[This was] mostly due to a confusion [with]mass ... and the incorrect implication that our fluid could exist in empty space ... ”
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How to define mass, and the difference between “negative mass” and “negative effective mass,” was a topic that Engels and Forbes often had to clarify to reporters. Creating a fluid with “negative mass” is technically correct, they said, but only if “mass” is interpreted in a specific way.
“One main confusion by some of the media was interpreting the term ‘negative mass’ [as] negative gravitational mass, which indeed could have drastic consequences,” Engels and Forbes said. The correct concept is the “inertial mass,” they emphasized, which is what we think of in Newton’s second law: If you push an object, how does it accelerate? In fact, all inertial masses are “effective masses” by definition, since the term describes what someone actually observes.
I've noticed that sometimes things don't happen because they make too much sense...ZapperZ said:So there, this is directly from the "horses' mouths", so to speak, something which these media outlets should have consulted from the very beginning BEFORE they sensationalized the story.
'Negative mass' is a hypothetical concept in physics where the mass of an object is negative rather than positive. It is created by physicists through manipulating the behavior of particles at the quantum level.
The creation of 'negative mass' has many potential implications in the field of physics. It could potentially lead to a better understanding of gravity and the nature of dark matter, as well as the development of new technologies such as propulsion systems for spacecraft.
No, 'negative mass' is not the same as anti-matter. Anti-matter has a positive mass, but opposite charge to its corresponding matter particle. 'Negative mass' has a negative mass, and is a purely theoretical concept at this point.
Physicists have been able to observe the behavior of particles at the quantum level and have found that some properties, such as mass, can have negative values. However, this has not yet been observed on a larger scale and is still a theoretical concept that requires further research and experimentation.
Yes, the creation of 'negative mass' could potentially lead to new breakthroughs in physics. It could help us better understand the fundamental laws of the universe and potentially open up new avenues for technological advancements. However, more research and experimentation is needed to fully understand the implications of 'negative mass'.