Tell me more ×
Physics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for active researchers, academics and students of physics. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote -4 down vote favorite
  1. It is not possible to prove the point of origin of a photon
  2. It is not possible to prove the point of origin of a free electron
  3. It is not possible to prove that protons or neutrons exist inside a nucleus

Can anyone confirm?

share|improve this question
2  
You are wrong on all three points,but it is too much to expect somebody to educate you on basic physics at this forum. 1,2) See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton_scattering . 2,3)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_nucleus#Protons_and_neutrons . See also for 3)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table – anna v Feb 18 '12 at 12:53
Without further clarification of the goal of this question, one can even suspect this to be a trolling attack against particle physics ... : (temporary?) -1 – Dilaton Feb 18 '12 at 14:35
All of your questions do not have an answer in a daily life or in a scientific context. This is all nicely explained in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth. – Alexander Feb 18 '12 at 15:06
3  
I'm closing this as a rant or pointless and ignorant attack, for now. Very_curious, if you are serious about this please do two things: (1) edit to be more clear about what you are asking/claiming (and please note that "prove" is not a word you see much in science for epistemological reasons (i.e. we don't know about truth we know about predictions)) and (2) ask only one question per question. In this case your first two points might be separate instances of the same question, but the third is different. – dmckee♦ Feb 18 '12 at 15:28

closed as not a real question by dmckee♦ Feb 18 '12 at 15:28

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote

Actually in natural sciences, you can't prove anything. If you state a law of physics, i.e. "things fall down to the ground, when you throw them", you are never completely sure, that it will be true for all possible things in the world at all possible future times. You simply can't be everywhere every time, to check and verify, that it is ultimately true.

So we just made up some laws, that predict some things will happen, and it just worked every time we checked. We can't be better than that. If something doesn't work, we make further experiments, go back to pen and paper and make a corrections to these laws.

In particle physics it gets further complicated, because you have to use terms that are completely made up and disconnected from the macroscopic environment in which you live and that you understand. No one has ever seen neutron or proton, and probably no one will ever do. We just did some experiments, made some equations, that predict what will happen in different settings, and it just worked every time we checked. We use these equations in science, industry and all that. Sometimes we call some parts of these equations with silly names like "proton" or "neutron" or "curved spacetime", just to get better grip of it, imagine some things and get more comfortable with all the math involved.

But we can't prove anything. We just made up some useful equations that work.

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.