Physical paradox

Apparent contradiction in physical descriptions of the universe The tea leaf paradox is the phenomenon by which tea leaves in a cup of tea migrate to the center and bottom of the cup after being stirred, rather than being forced to the edges as would be expected in a spiral centrifuge. A physical paradox is an apparent contradiction in physical descriptions of the universe. While multiple physical paradoxes have accepted resolutions, others defy resolution and may indicate flaws in theory. In physics as in all of science, contradictions and paradoxes are generally assumed to be artifacts of error and incompleteness because reality is assumed to be completely consistent, although this is itself a philosophical assumption. When, as in fields such as quantum physics and relativity theory, existing assumptions about reality have been shown to break down, this has usually been dealt with by changing our understanding of reality to a new one which remains self-consistent in the presence of the new evidence. Paradoxes relating to false assumptions The twin paradox illustrates the theory of non-absolute time. Certain physical paradoxes defy common sense predictions about physical situation