Difference between revisions of "Special Theory of Relativity"
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The special theory of relativity is a paper published by Albert Einstein in 1905, originally titled The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. | The special theory of relativity is a paper published by Albert Einstein in 1905, originally titled The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. | ||
| − | His theory stated that all motion must be considered relative to some object or system of objects. | + | His theory stated that all motion must be considered relative to some object or system of objects. Four instance, consider to planes are flying in a parrrellell line. They are flying at the same speed, so relative to the earth, they are flying at three hundred miles per hour. Relative to each other, they are motionless. |
| − | It also states that the measured speed of light in a | + | It also states that the measured speed of light in a vaccuuum, no matter what the velocity of the of the light source relative to the observer, remains constant. For instance, consider a man throws a football at a horizontal velocity of 10 miles per hour, relative to us. If the man is on a platform moving in the same direction as the ball being thrown, at 5 miles per hour, then we would assume that the horizontal velocity of the ball after being thrown would be 10 plus 5, right? Einstein theorized that while it may seem that way when measured, in reality, it is immesurably less than 10 plus 5. So, when the football being thrown from a man at barely under 15 miles per hour changes to light being hurled from a distant planet at 300,000 kilometers per second, the diffference becomes noticable. As the speed of the object being thrown increases, the affect of the object it is being thrown from on the object thrown decreases. It reaches zero when a moving object reaches the speed of light. He theorized that no matter what the velocity of the source of light, the measured velocity of light will always be 300,000 kilometers per second, relative to the usa. |
| − | Perhaps the most famous part of his special theory of relativity was his energy-mass equivelance. Up until this point, most people beleived in a newtonian universe, where mass and energy weren't related. But Einstein changed everyones veiws of the | + | Perhaps the most famous part of his special theory of relativity was his energy-mass equivelance. Up until this point, most people beleived in a newtonian universe, where mass and energy weren't related. But Einstein changed everyones veiws of the wrold, not only stating that energy and mass were related, but that they were equal. It was his energy-mass equivelance that gave us the famous equation ''e=mc<sup>2</sup>''. It also solved one of the mysteries of radiation. Before einstein's theory was applied, radioactive material seemed to generate endless amounts of energy from nowhere. Once they applied his theory, they looked for disappearing mass and found it. Although this may be einstein's most well known work by the general public, he did not win a noble prize for it. In fact, he didn't win a noble prize until 16 years later, for explaining the photoelectric effect. |
Revision as of 13:23, June 1, 2007
The special theory of relativity is a paper published by Albert Einstein in 1905, originally titled The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.
His theory stated that all motion must be considered relative to some object or system of objects. Four instance, consider to planes are flying in a parrrellell line. They are flying at the same speed, so relative to the earth, they are flying at three hundred miles per hour. Relative to each other, they are motionless.
It also states that the measured speed of light in a vaccuuum, no matter what the velocity of the of the light source relative to the observer, remains constant. For instance, consider a man throws a football at a horizontal velocity of 10 miles per hour, relative to us. If the man is on a platform moving in the same direction as the ball being thrown, at 5 miles per hour, then we would assume that the horizontal velocity of the ball after being thrown would be 10 plus 5, right? Einstein theorized that while it may seem that way when measured, in reality, it is immesurably less than 10 plus 5. So, when the football being thrown from a man at barely under 15 miles per hour changes to light being hurled from a distant planet at 300,000 kilometers per second, the diffference becomes noticable. As the speed of the object being thrown increases, the affect of the object it is being thrown from on the object thrown decreases. It reaches zero when a moving object reaches the speed of light. He theorized that no matter what the velocity of the source of light, the measured velocity of light will always be 300,000 kilometers per second, relative to the usa.
Perhaps the most famous part of his special theory of relativity was his energy-mass equivelance. Up until this point, most people beleived in a newtonian universe, where mass and energy weren't related. But Einstein changed everyones veiws of the wrold, not only stating that energy and mass were related, but that they were equal. It was his energy-mass equivelance that gave us the famous equation e=mc2. It also solved one of the mysteries of radiation. Before einstein's theory was applied, radioactive material seemed to generate endless amounts of energy from nowhere. Once they applied his theory, they looked for disappearing mass and found it. Although this may be einstein's most well known work by the general public, he did not win a noble prize for it. In fact, he didn't win a noble prize until 16 years later, for explaining the photoelectric effect.
