explain the theory of relativity?

Answer 1

no but ill try here goes ill ask my science teacher 2morrow

Answer 2

The special theory of relativity was proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in his article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Some three centuries earlier, Galileo's principle of relativity had stated that all uniform motion was relative, and that there was no absolute and well-defined state of rest; a person on the deck of a ship may be at rest in his opinion, but someone observing from the shore would say that he was moving. Einstein's theory combines Galilean relativity with the postulate that all observers will always measure the speed of light to be the same no matter what their state of uniform linear motion is.

This theory has a variety of surprising consequences that seem to violate common sense, but which have been verified experimentally. Special relativity overthrows Newtonian notions of absolute space and time by stating that distance and time depend on the observer, and that time and space are perceived differently, depending on the observer. It yields the equivalence of matter and energy, as expressed in the famous equation E=mc2, where c is the speed of light. Special relativity agrees with Newtonian mechanics in their common realm of applicability, in experiments in which all velocities are small compared to the speed of light.

The theory was called "special" because it applies the principle of relativity only to inertial frames. Einstein developed general relativity to apply the principle generally, that is, to any frame, and that theory includes the effects of gravity. Special relativity doesn't account for gravity, but it can deal with accelerations.

Although special relativity makes relative some quantities, such as time, that we would have imagined to be absolute based on everyday experience, it also makes absolute some others that we would have thought were relative. In particular, it states that the speed of light is the same for all observers, even if they are in motion relative to one another. Special relativity reveals that c is not just the velocity of a certain phenomenon -- light -- but rather a fundamental feature of the way space and time are tied together. In particular, special relativity states that it is impossible for any material object to travel as fast as light.

Answer 3

All right. I'll try to explain it as simply as I can, in the space of a short essay.

Start with the idea of relative motion. If you're running along a road, you see utility poles passing you every now and then. But if you're riding on the road in a speeding car, you see the same poles passing you much faster. That's relative motion.

Those ideas work for our ordinary experience. But in Special Relativity, Einstein said that the speed of light is constant for everybody. That means that the runner will see light approach him at a certain speed (the speed of light). But a rider in a (traveling at nearly the speed of light) will still see light approaching him at the same speed as the slow runner. This means that light does not follow the laws of relative motion as does everything else.

This has several implications. Nothing (except light itself) can ever reach the speed of light. As you get closer and closer to the speed of light, it gets harder and harder to go faster. You have to use more and more energy. And, because of conservation of momentum, (a) mass increases; (b) length gets foreshortened; and (c) time slows down. All these things happen, at extremely high speeds, as a consequence of the speed of light being constant for everyone.

I mentioned the increase in mass and the increased energy usage. It turns out that among the equations of Special Relativity, there's a famous relationship, e = mc^2, between energy and mass. Since c, the speed of light, is such a large number (and c^2 is even larger), a small amount of mass is equivalent to a very large amount of energy (and vice-versa).

In Special Relativity, Einstein assumed constant velocities with no acceleration. Later, with General Relativity, he took on the acceleration due to gravity. It works like this ...

You're in an elevator, freely falling from the top of the Empire State Building. During your fall, you feel weightless. One side of your elevator has a small hole, and the opposite side has a translucent slit extending from the bottom to the top of the elevator.

I'm at the 65th floor shining a bright red laser straight across the elevator shaft. When the elevator passes my floor, the red light passes through the small hole in the elevator wall, then passes through the translucent slit on the opposite side, and activates a light detector on the other side of the elevator shaft. I say the light went straight across.

Meanwhile, in the elevator, you see the red light enter through the small hole. But because your elevator is downward (gravity), you'll see the beam of light as it crosses over to the slit on the other side. (If you were traveling at constant speed, the light would cross at an angle, but in a straight line.)

But you'd say the beam of light actually curved upward, and you'd say that was you were accelerating under the force of gravity.

Einstein reasoned that the beam of light will always travel in what it "thinks" is a straight line; and the reason it curved upward was because it was "bent" by the gravity (or actually the present mass) of the earth.

This led him to the conclusion that, since light always follows the "path of least resistance", it must in the presence of a large massive object. He then went on to conclude that is bent near large massive objects. This is the essence of his theory of General Relativity.

General Relativity was proven in 1919 when starlight was observed as "bent" in the presence of the sun during a solar eclipsed.

Answer 4

Energy manifests itself as mass within 'space-time', a mathematical fabric of the universe we sit on. Within it mass distorts the fabric and the fields created within it, so therefore, every position and observation within the universe is relative to how much energy you contain and where on the fabric of space you are.

So for example, time is a visual representation of events passing within a multidimensional fabric, and is relative only to you; your position in space time represents how you see time pass.

Answer 5

Is this your homework you are having us do? Check the link below. Use Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias whenever possible.

Answer 6

one hour with gf is shorter than one hour in classroom

Answer 7

buy the book. i did. several in fact

Answer 8

The more distant your relative, the more likely they'll overstay their welcome.