What is general theory of relativity for dummies?
What is general relativity? Essentially, it’s a theory of gravity. The basic idea is that instead of being an invisible force that attracts objects to one another, gravity is a curving or warping of space. The more massive an object, the more it warps the space around it.
What is special theory of relativity simplified?
Special relativity is an explanation of how speed affects mass, time and space. As an object approaches the speed of light, the object’s mass becomes infinite and so does the energy required to move it. That means it is impossible for any matter to go faster than light travels.
What does E mc2 mean for kids?
“Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.” On the most basic level, the equation says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable; they are different forms of the same thing. Under the right conditions, energy can become mass, and vice versa.
What makes special relativity special?
The rules of special relativity are a special case of general relativity, where you can ignore the gravitational fields. The special advance of special relativity was combining the fact that the speed of light is constant with the fact that observers in all reference frames perceive the same laws of nature.
What is the similarities of special relativity and general relativity?
The best connection between the two theories regards how they deal with different observers or frames of reference. Special Relativity (SR) postulates that all inertial observers are equivalent whereas General Relativity (GR) assumes that a wider class of observers are equivalent.
What is the special theory of relativity?
The special theory of relativity was a first step for Einstein. The fuller development of his goal of relativizing physics came with his general theory of relativity. That theory was completed in its most important elements in November of 1915.
Is general relativity difficult to understand?
Now, while the mathematical structure of general relativity is, without a doubt, a complicated mess to most beginners, understanding the theory itself and the physics behind it is actually quite simple. This is what we will explore in this article. From reading this article, you will learn:
What is Einstein’s general theory of relativity?
The central idea of Einstein’s general theory of relativity is that this curvature of spacetime is what we traditionally know as gravitation. This makes learning Einstein’s general theory of relativity much easier, for we have already done much of the ground work.
What are special relativity’s geodesics?
In relativity, both special and general, they are timelike geodesics. That is, they are curves of greatest proper time, which is the analog of the straight lines of Euclidean geometry, the curves of shortest distance. So we can yield to the temptation and, in so doing, arrive at the essential idea of Einstein’s theory.