<div dir="auto"><div>Yes, I agree Tom that it was rather amusing. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif">For an analogy, if we add impurity to water, we say that presence of additives have transformed the tranparent water (or nothing) into coloured (distorted) water. But if we dig deeper, then we know that both additive as well as water are made up of same basic particles electron neutron and proton, though in somewhat different <b>configuration</b>. </span><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">To put it in perspective, by saying that mass distorts space-time, its possible that we are misinterpreting mass as something different from space time. It may be possible that space time is made of same ingredient of which the matter (electron, proton neutron) is made of , or may be space-time is <b>simply an extension of matter.</b> , but there are properties<b> (configurations) </b>associated , by which we differentiate between source<b> (matter) </b>and spacetime<b>(extension)</b> , hence we recognise them as two different entities,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So the gas molecules if they are source, will not get distorted, I agree. But extension of it may get distorted.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So if there is an extension then that extension is gravitational field or something else? That's a meaningful question. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Nothing (space ) is something that we don't understand, so we prefer to say that it is nothing.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Regards,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Tufail Abbas</div><div dir="auto"><div class="gmail_extra" dir="auto"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Jun 9, 2017 11:20 PM, "<a href="mailto:carmam@tiscali.co.uk">carmam@tiscali.co.uk</a>" <<a href="mailto:carmam@tiscali.co.uk">carmam@tiscali.co.uk</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">That is interesting and amusing Tufail, but it clouds the issue. Space IS literally nothing. Just like the space between atoms, but on a much larger scale. However, as there are molecules in space, perhaps it should be described as a very rarified gas. But how do you distort a gas?<div><br></div><div>Tom Hollings<div class="elided-text"><br>
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----Original Message----<br>
From: <a href="mailto:tufail.abbas@gmail.com" target="_blank">tufail.abbas@gmail.com</a><br>
Date: 09/06/2017 00:44<br>
To: "General Physics and Natural Philosophy discussion list"<<a href="mailto:physics@tuks.nl" target="_blank">physics@tuks.nl</a>><br>
Subj: Re: [Physics] gravity is NOT a force<br>
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<div dir="auto"><div>Hello Tom,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You have nailed it. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You are right, that if something is something like nothing, then it is impossible for it to distort. But, if what we have understood as nothing, is not actually nothing but something, then it may turn into something else or distort. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">What if, that something (which distorts) is actually very close to something like nothing, Then if you add something else to that nothing, then it creates the illusion of distortion of nothing. But in actuality identity of nothing is still preserved despite illusion of something.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">For example : if transparency = nothing then pure water = nothing. If we add colour to this water, then it is no more transparent , so it becomes something. But instead of saying that it is now something, we still prefer tobsay that <span style="font-style:italic">nothing is now coloured</span>. By the same logic possibly, we have declared that <span style="font-style:italic">space is nothing </span>and nothing is distorted.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Regards,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Tufail Abbas.<br><div class="gmail_extra" dir="auto"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Jun 8, 2017 10:18 PM, "<a href="mailto:carmam@tiscali.co.uk" target="_blank">carmam@tiscali.co.uk</a>" <<a href="mailto:carmam@tiscali.co.uk" target="_blank">carmam@tiscali.co.uk</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="m_-3892730832657851253quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Tesla was correct on this one (and numerous others). Space is nothing. How can nothing be distorted?<div>Tom Hollings.<div class="m_-3892730832657851253elided-text"><br>
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----Original Message----<br>
From: <a href="mailto:pifriedgut@statcourse.com" target="_blank">pifriedgut@statcourse.com</a><br>
Date: 08/06/2017 15:15<br>
To: <<a href="mailto:physics@tuks.nl" target="_blank">physics@tuks.nl</a>><br>
Subj: [Physics] gravity is NOT a force<br>
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<span style="font-family:Verdana;color:#000000;font-size:10pt"><div>The effect of a mass is to distort the surrounding space-time continuum. This distortion is proportional to the linear distance from the center of the mass.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></span></div>
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