What Are Universal Forces Made Of?

[robproctor83]

What are the universal forces made of? From what I understand, these forces are simply invisible and are yet physical at the same time, how can that be? How can something that has a physical force be made of... nothing? Gravity for example is speculated to be made of gravitons, but it is (at this time) impossible to determine rather gravitons are even real... It is only a theory.

I'm sure this has been asked over and over, and I have read quite a bit of reports on what gravity and electromagnetism is and made of, but it seems rather unsettling. I understand we can measure the forces, can harness their potential, but are unable to determine what they consist of. Is it truly possible that these forces are simply made of nothing but are in fact the result of natures physical attraction to itself?

Also, why wouldn't time be considered one of the universal forces?

 

[Vagn]

What are the universal forces made of? From what I understand, these forces are simply invisible and are yet physical at the same time, how can that be? How can something that has a physical force be made of... nothing? Gravity for example is speculated to be made of gravitons, but it is (at this time) impossible to determine rather gravitons are even real... It is only a theory.

I'm sure this has been asked over and over, and I have read quite a bit of reports on what gravity and electromagnetism is and made of, but it seems rather unsettling. I understand we can measure the forces, can harness their potential, but are unable to determine what they consist of. Is it truly possible that these forces are simply made of nothing but are in fact the result of natures physical attraction to itself?

Also, why wouldn't time be considered one of the universal forces?

Strictly speaking everything you know of science is 'only a theory' to be a little pedantic. Gravitation, Electromagnetism, Newton's Laws of Motion, all of them, a 'theory' in Scietific Terminology is different too how it would be used by the layperson.

They don't 'consist' of anything as such, they are carried by gauge bosons (aka a force carrying particle). The graviton is the speculated gauge boson for gravitation. The strong force has gluons, electromagnetism is carried by (virtual) photons and the weak nuclear force is carried by Zo, W+ and W- bosons. Here's the wikipedia article on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_boson" which would be a decent enough place to start.

Time cannot be considered a force, because it is not one, it is a component of space-time.

 

[Chimps]

Some people suggest the forces are part of the 'computer program' we live in, but that isn't really science.

Nevertheless, there is much circumstantial evidence to suggest that it is indeed the case.

 

[Vagn]

Some people suggest the forces are part of the 'computer program' we live in, but that isn't really science.

Nevertheless, there is much circumstantial evidence to suggest that it is indeed the case.

What circumstantial evidence would that be?

 

[tiny-tim]

welcome to pf!

hi rob! welcome to pf!

What are the universal forces made of? …
How can something that has a physical force be made of... nothing?

i am shocked at your bigotry towards forces

just because forces aren't made out of the same stuff that you are, you dismiss them as being made of nothing

what about the electrons and quarks inside you? what are they made of?

forces are no more made of nothing than electrons are (and forces have a lot more structure than electrons do)

was not matter created out of forces?

in the beginning, all forces were created equal …

can you say the same about matter?

may the force be with you! ​

 

[Chronos]

My knee jerk reaction is 'bosons' - the particle that mediates all fundamental forces of nature. There is, of course, no universal boson - flavor for each force. Historically, there are four fundamental forces: nuclear strong, nuclear weak, electromagnetism and gravity. Gravity is the oddball because its boson remains elusive [and may turn out to be something other than a boson]. Other candidate forces include dark energy, which remains a work in progress, and the Higgs boson that imparts the property of mass to matter. The claim that time is a fundamental force rises and ebbs like the bow of a boat [mediated by the hypothetical 'chronon' boson], but, this idea has never really gotten legs. Time is probably more in the realm of phenomenology than physics. I rather like the description that 'time is what prevents everything from happening all at once'. That would make for a very brief and boring existence.

 

[FlexGunship]

Also, why wouldn't time be considered one of the universal forces?

Time is a dimension. Why wouldn't we consider width to be a force? Or height?

Nevertheless, there is much circumstantial evidence to suggest that it is indeed the case.

I'll give you some money if you can show some evidence for this. I think that's fair.

 

[jt3213]

Could it be possible that gravity is the attraction between atoms?

 

[FlexGunship]

Could it be possible that gravity is the attraction between atoms?

Among other attractions/repulsions. Yes.

 

[Radrook]

From a GR viewpoint gravity is merely the warping of spacetime. In short, objects move the way they do in the presence of dense matter such as planets, stars, and black holes because it's the only way in which the warped spacetime allows them to move. Of course the lack of causality is a major flaw in that concept since no compelling reason for an attraction force toward the dense matter is proposed.

 

[Chronos]

Without gravity, we would effectively reside in a Milne universe - very boring. Gravity is the allergic reaction empty space exhibits in the presence of matter.