What is the theory of relativity?

Question

What is the relativity theory really? Is there proof to it? What does it propose?

Answer 1

Read it yourself, I just happen to have "The Theory of Relativity & other essays by Albert Einstein" right on my desk, since I also have some time, I will transcribe it for you:

1.- THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY.

Mathemathics deals exclusively with the realtions of concepts to each other without consideration of their relation to experience. Physics too deals with mathematical concepts; however, these concepts attain physical content only by the clear determination of their relation to the objects of experience. This in particular is the case for the concepts of motion, space, time.

The theory of relativity is that physical theory which is based on a consistent physical interpretation on these three concepts. The name "theory of relativity" is connected with the fact that motion from the point of view of possible experience always appears as the relative motion of one object with respect to another. (e.g., of a car with respect to the ground, or the earth with respect to the sun and fixed stars). Motion is never observable as "motion with respect to space" or, as it has been expressed, as "absolute motion". The principle of relativity in its widest sence is contained in the statement: The totality of physical phenomena is of such character that it gives no basis for the introduction of the concept of "absolute motion"; or shorter, but less precise: There is not absolute motion.

It might seem that our insight would gain little from such a negative statement. In reality, however, it is a strong restriction for the (conceivable) laws of nature. In this sense, there exists an analogy between the theory of relativity and thermodynamics. The latter too is based on a negative statement: "There exists no perpetuum mobile".

The development of the theory of relativuty proceeded in two steps, "Special theory of relativity" and "General theory of relativity". The latter presumes the validity of the former as a limiting case and is its consisten continuation.


This brief summary should give you an idea. If you want more, I'll be more than happy to send its complete text to you.

Hope it was helpful.

Answer 2

Theories do not require "proofs"; proofs are a mathematical and/or logical procedure to demonstrate laws. Theories are hypothetical descriptions of phenomena which, in the case of physics, are based on mathematical calculation and observation.

There are actually 2 theories of relativity: Special Relativity & General Relativity. Physical observable evidence has been found that supports both theories; among scientific communities, Special Relativity is more or less taken for granted, but some people still question general relativity.

The gist of special relativity is that the speed of light relative to any object is a constant; This means you can be standing completely still and relative to you, light is moving at c (3 x10^8 m/s, roughly), or you can be travelling at 3x10^7 m/s, and relative to you light still moves at speed c. The immediate consequences are that it is impossible to move at the speed of light, and that time becomes distorted at speeds close to the speed of light; put simply, the more quickly you move through space, the more slowly you move through time, and vice-versa. Special Relativity is generally accepted to have united the distinct concepts of space and time into a single space-time continuum, through which we continually move.

Special Relativity has been verified time and again by various experiments; a particularly famous one is the flight of 2 Boeing planes around the Earth, one moving in the direction of Earth's rotation, the other against (one plane was moving much faster than the other). When the planes returned to the same point, clocks aboard the plane were compared, and the one aboard the faster moving plane was several nano-seconds behind the other (time passed more slowly as the plane travelled more quickly).

General Relativity deals with the effects of gravity on the space-time continuum. The basic idea is that gravity influences the geometry of the space-time continuum, and that large objects with strong gravitational fields can actual distort space-time into curved, non-Euclidean space.

There is fairly conclusive evidence for this; the easist to understand is the observation that during solar eclipses, the positions of stars whose normal position in the sky is near that location of the sun were slightly distorted (the light beams from the stars passed very close to the sun and as a result passed through the curved space generated by the sun's gravitational pull, thereby altering the perceived location of the stars).

In modern physics taught in any major university, special and general relativity are assumed to be as true as the theory of gravity and are not simply wild speculation.

Answer 3

The basic idea comes from a thought experiment of Einstein. The premise is that the speed of light is a constant.

Under Newtonian physics, if you threw a ball at 80 mph at a car that was going 70 mph (in the same direction), it would appear to go 80 mph from an observer outside the car, but seem to be going only 10 miles per hour from the vantage point of someone inside the car. Newtonians thought light would be like that, too. If you were going half the speed of light, they thought that light would look like it was going slower to someone inside the vehicle than to someone outside the vehicle. Einstein turned this around & said "What if it looks like it is going the same speed to everyone?

This led him to a theory of gravity where gravitational forces push against the fabric of space and bend space (and light).

Like all theories, it is a model of the universe, and not expected to be perfect. But in the early 20th century an experiment was done during a solar eclipse where stars near the sun looked out of place compared to how they look when the sun is not in the way. Their conclusion was that it was the gravity of the sun that bent the light from these stars making them look like they were in different positions. This conflicted with Newton's theory and supported Einstein's.

One result of his theory is that there is really no difference between energy and matter. His famous E=Mc^2 equation shows how much energy you can get from mass.

Answer 4

It's messed up. Mass does not gain more mass as it moves in form of energy, so that a mass cannot ever accelerate to the speed of light! This concept is that form of thought bringing about the "black hole" concept and the "big bang".

As a mass moves energy is being converted from right angles of movement to that of forward direction. You might try "The Problem and Repair of Relativity" at http://360.yahoo.com/noddarc

Answer 5

Theory involves two postulate. one relates to the velocity of light in local space. The other is based on Galieo's Principe of relativity.
Since time ,mass, lenght are relative to objects moving at the speed of light ,and most of our daily activity dont involve motion at the speed of light . The use of the theory remains theoretically limited.

Answer 6

E=mc^2

E= energy
m= mass
c = speed of light
^2 = squared

Answer 7

challenging task. lookup into google. just that could actually help!

Answer 8

Its the theory that makes time travel possible and yes, it is true. Its from a guy with 300 IQ



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