From:	Robert Watkins <robertdw@*******.net.au>
Subject:	RE: Astral/physical/magnetism debate
Date:	Tue, 10 Sep 96 17:05:18 +1100

>> How can something with mass (a magnet) affect something without much mass
>> (electrons flowing in an electric circuit). Simple... there are more
>> interactions than pure kinetic ones. In this case, the auras of the two
>> items interact, with a weak but existing force.
>
> A magnet has a "magnetic field". The field interacts with a moving
>electron via the "magnetic force". I have been teaching physics now for
>longer than I want to admit. But, one thing students have a tough time
>grasping is that the magnetic (or electric) fields are REAL things!!!
>This is something that is not stressed in introductory courses.
>Although, in advanced courses it becomes mandatory to think of
>the field as a real corporeal entity, and in relativity it is proved to
>be real.

Yeah, that's my point... I was just using an example, to show that
kinetic interactions aren't the only ones.

(I could have used gravity, just as readily, but that's a case of mass
affecting mass, which I wanted to avoid)


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