General Relativity

Question 1

What type of relativity deals with motion in inertial (non-accelerating) frames of reference?

Answer 1

Special relativity

Question 2

Which type of relativity deals with motion in non-inertial (accelerating) frames of reference?

Answer 2

General relativity

Question 3

State the equivalence principle

Answer 3

That it is not possible to distinguish between the effects in an observer of a uniform gravitational field and of a constant acceleration.

Question 4

What can spacetime be considered as?

Answer 4

3 dimensions of space and one dimension of time

Question 5

What can we interpret through general relativity about the curvature of space time?

Answer 5

That mass curves spacetime and that gravity arises from the curvature of spacetime.

Question 6

What path does light or a freely moving object follow in spacetime?

Answer 6

A geodesic path (the path with the shortest distance between two points)

Question 7

What is the escape velocity from the event horizon of a black hole equal to?

Answer 7

The speed of light

Question 8

From the perspective of a distant observer how does time appear at the event horizon of a black hole?

Answer 8

Time appears frozen

Question 9

What is Schwartzchild radius of a black hole?

Answer 9

The distance from the centre of a black hole to its event horizon.