Aether and Gravitation

by William George Hooper

But this is exactly what happens in the case of aetherial density, as proved in [Art. 46]. We have only to picture the number of aetherial atoms being doubled on a given area, and at once the physical conception of electric density is furnished, if we remember that Aether has an electric basis as suggested by Maxwell and proved by Hertz. Thus we see at once why it is the lines of force should be closer together nearer the electrified body than farther away.

Electric Potential.--There is another aspect of the electric field that I wish to call the reader's attention to, and that is the Electric Potential of such a field.

Electric potential is to electricity what temperature is to heat, or pressure is to any medium of different densities. We have already seen, according to the laws of thermodynamics, that heat will flow from a higher temperature to a lower one, with the result that work is done. In the case also of water at two different levels, work can also be done by the water flowing from a higher to a lower level.

A similar thing happens in electricity; where we have two conductors or two parts of an electrical fluid at different potentials, electricity will flow from the place of higher potential, until the potentials are equalized, in the same way that the temperature of two bodies at different temperatures would be equalized by the flow of heat.

So that electric potential agrees with our conception of a gravitative Aether in that, being gravitative, it is denser in those parts nearest to the attracting body than farther away, and as the elasticity or pressure is proportionate to the density ([Art. 47]), therefore we learn that the electric potential of the Aether, and the thermal condition of the Aether, if I may use such a term, both agree and coincide with the density and elasticity of the Aether.

Any equipotential surface which represents a particular aetherial density, would also correspond with a particular elasticity or pressure of the Aether, while it would further correspond with a particular temperature, if such a term is applicable to the Aether.

Equipotential Surfaces.--The fact that in an electric field there are different points at different potentials, leads us to the truth that in an electric field there are also equipotential surfaces; that is to say, there are surfaces where the electric density or the aetherial density are equal at all points on such a surface. If, for example, E be an electrified body (Fig. 9), and A A', B B', represent equipotential surfaces around the body, then all the points on A A' would be of equal potential--that is, of equal energy, or pressure.

We have to remember that A A', B B', are sections of a sphere, so that when the body as E is a sphere, then the equipotential surfaces are spheres also. This agrees with [Art. 77], in which we saw that the pressure around any body due to aetherial density also possessed equipotential surfaces.

It could equally be shown that there were equipotential surfaces so far as the phenomena of heat and light are concerned, as these also are subject to the same laws. Having now very briefly considered the meaning of the Electric Field, Electric Potential, Electric Density, and Equipotential Surfaces, we are now in a position to apply these facts to our solar system, at least as far as the sun is concerned.

In the foregoing Art. we arrived at the conclusion that the sun was an electrified body, therefore, in accordance with all experiment and observation, it, too, must have an electric field. Not only must it have an electric field; but that field must possess different potentials, possessing a higher potential the nearer the field gets to the sun, and a lower potential the farther away the field is.