Einsten’s Relativity Flashcards
What is (Luminiferous) Aether?
A theoretical medium for transmission of light and heat, filling all unoccupied space.
What is Light Interference?
When multiple light waves interact with one another.
What did Michelson and Morley discover?
The Aether does not exist; light moves at a constant speed no matter what direction it is going
How did we discover that there is no change in the speed of light?
Results from Michelson and Morley’s interferometer concluded that the interference did not change as Earth moved through Aether.
Einstein’s Special Relativity
- The laws of physics are the same in any inertial reference frame. (what person considers to be at rest but can be considered in motion relative to something else in the universe)
- Light always travels at constant speed in a vacuum, regardless of the speed of the source of the light.
Gendanken Experiment: Time Dilation
/ General Definition of Time Dilation
The “slowing down” of a clock determined by observer who is in relative motion with respect to the clock.
/Slowing of time perceived by one observer compared with w other, depending on their relative motion or positions in a gravitational field.
What does Special Relativity tell us?
- Time Dilation (Moving clock run slower; longer tick)
- Lengths contract in direction of movement.
ADDITIONALLY: E = mc^2 (energy and mass are two aspects of same thing)
Twin Paradox
If one of a pair of twins makes a long journey at near the speed of light and returns, they will have shed less than the twin who remains behind on Earth.
Why is the Twin Paradox true?
The faster something travels, the slower time passes.
What is General Relativity?
The observed gravitation effect between masses results from their warping of spacetime.
Gravity is a curving or warping of space.
The Equivalence Principle
There is no difference between gravity and acceleration.
If light appears to bend due to acceleration, then it also bends due to gravity.
Spacetime
A four dimensional continuum between three-dimensional space and time.
The force of Gravity is an acceleration caused by moving through curved spacetime.
What tells Spacetime how to bend?
Matter/Energy
What tells Matter and Energy how to move?
Spacetime
How was General Relativity proven?
Solar Eclipse.
When the Sun crossed a distant star cluster, the Sun’s mass was large enough for gravity to curve the light of the cluster which appeared to shift the position of the stars.
