Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
I'm not saying Newton was wrong, but that his theory is only an approximation.
I'm not saying Newton was wrong, but that his theory is only an approximation.
You can derive classical mechanics from relativistic theory or quantum mechanics - but you must make assumptions to acheive it - meaning it is only valid when those assumptions hold. Therefore SR & QM are definitely better theories as they are more encompassing and don't make assumptions.
OTOH, relativistic calculations have been accurate in all situations and to all levels of significant digits that we have so far been able to observe (as was true of classical mechanics a mere 150 years ago). Just as this did not guarantee the future correspondance of the classical model 150 years ago, we have no current guarantees on SR/QM.
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