The Dynamics of the 2nd Element

48. How all the air-aether particles became spherical.

The laws of motion lead to the dynamics of the air-aether.

At the beginning, these:

• were equal in particle size
• not round

This is because our current universe has a solid and continuous structure.

• This would not happen if there were voids in Nature.

But whatever shape the air-aether had a the start of the universe, they must, in the course of time, have become round, inasmuch as they had diverse circular motions.

The force that moved them at the beginning was great enough to separate them from one another.

• This still continued in them afterwards.
• It was great enough to wear away all their angles as they met together

This was because there was not as much required for this effect as had been required for the other.

• The angles of a body are thus worn away from this alone.

And so I think they are round, because all non spherical shapes have angles.

49. There is a finer matter around these spherical particles

There can be no void in space. Yet those round matter particles, when joined together, leave some very small gaps around them.

These gaps must be filled with some other matter:

• as very tiny fragments
• having shapes to fill them
• constantly changing according to the ratio of the space occupied.

While those matter particles are becoming round, their angles are gradually worn away. What is abraded from them is so small and acquires such speed that it is divided into innumerable fragments by its own motion.

Thus, it fills all the angles which other particles of matter cannot penetrate.

50. The particles of this finer matter can be easily divided.

The smaller these particles are, the more easily they can be moved and broken down into even smaller pieces.

The smaller they are, the more surface area they have in proportion to their volume.

They encounter other bodies by their surface and are divided by their volume.

51. The same particles move very quickly.

They are agitated much more swiftly than the other particles of matter from which they acquire their agitation.

This is because while these other particles move through straight and open paths, they expel the finer particles through oblique and narrow paths.

In the same way, we see air exit very quickly from a bellows, even if it is slowly closed, because of the narrowness of the passage through which it passes.

Some portion of matter must move very quickly and be divided into practically infinite particles.

This is so that various circular and unequal motions can occur without decompression or voids.