Twenty years after a Himachali scientist Ajay Sharma found scope for modifying Newton’s third law of motion, he now seeks financial assistance to experimentally confirm his research.
The research had already been theoretically confirmed by scientists across the world but it is still to be confirmed experimentally.
“The experimental modification of 333-year-old Newton’s third law of motion is possible, thus purposely some experiments are needed. The scientists of national and international repute have recommended these experiments and they would cost around Rs 10-12 lakh,” Ajay Sharma, Deputy Education Officer, Shimla told media on Saturday.
Newton’s third law of motion states that action and reaction are always precisely equal in all cases without any exception. Ajay Sharma modified the law after critical analysis of its definition, applications and elastic collisions.
It is confirmed that it does not take into account that the significant factor shape of the body and it is a very significant limitation of the law. Newton stated that body may be sphere, semi-sphere, umbrella-shaped triangle, long pipe, cone, flat or irregular shape; the action and reaction must be equal. The shape of the body is completely unimportant but the reaction depends upon the shape experimentally.
“Thus some sensitive experiments are required for final confirmation. Till date, Newton’s law is regarded as true without the many experiments. It is unscientific,” he claimed.
Sharma has initially modified the third law of motion about 20 years ago in 1999 in a research journal, according to which, the reaction may be equal, less or more than action.
There is an additional factor or coefficient in the modified form of the third law of motion, it accounts for ‘shape of body’ which is neglected by Newton’s form of law. Thus, Sharma’s modified form of the law is the general form of law and Newton’s law is its special case.
Cooperation by Government
In July 2019, Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan has sent Ajay Sharma’s project to Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi but he is still to get the promised help for setting up experimental facilities and prove his research.
He said on 10th June 2018, French Professor Carlo Rovello as Editor of International Journal Foundations of Physics stated that the limitation of Newton’s law can be proved with the experiments in the domain of Newtonian Mechanics.
Even international journal of ‘Current Science’ of Indian Academy of Sciences commented that there are definite ambiguities in the third law and Sharma must be congratulated for raising such issues.
He has now sought help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister Jai Ram Thakur for experimental facilities.
“These experiments would cost Rs 10-12 lakh in India and would reach in each and every school of the world,” said Sharma who has devoted 36 years of his life to research on Einstein, Newton and Archimedes.