is there an example outside algebra of two negatives = positive, such as two low pressure areas producing a high pressure area or two electrons = positron?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Any physical behvaiour that relies on the multiplication operator will produce a positive outcome given two negatives. Two sources of relative negative pressure superimposed on each other will result in the two negatives being added, not multiplied. A real example of two negatives forming a positive is in the form of mechanical "work" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_(physics) ). Work required to move an object (in one dimension) is equal to the force applied to the object multiplied by the direction of the object's displacement ($ W = Fx $). If your reference frame is positive to the right, and the applied force and displacement are to the left (negative in this frame) the work performed on the object is still positive. An example of particle interactions exhibiting this behaviour can be found in the forces applied to particles by the charge interactions of their surrounding particles. Simply, two particles with similar charge will be repulsed from each other (the force applied to a particle(1) will be positive in the direction from particle(2) to particle(1)), and particles with different charge will be attracted. If two electrons are placed near each other, they will still be repulsed (positive force in the direction from 2 to 1) even though their charges are negative. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulomb%27s_law .. for more ) Good luck pondering.