It's a term I caught in my 9th grade history text. If someone could give me a brief description of what the theory of relativity is, that would be terrific.
2007-03-04 07:30:03 · 1 answers · asked by sparklycrayons 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Relativity is essentially the name applied to the rules of space/time.
At its core is the property of time interacting "relative" to you, and it was postulated around the observation of the speed of light. Essentially, light speed is always the same in a vaccuum, regardless of the speed you are travelling (toward or away) from the source. Since this is testable and proven, it states that time is the adjustable factor in the equation, or that time is relative to an individual in motion. If you are moving near the speed of light, time slows down to allow you to view light moving at the same speed as if you were standing still.
If you are in a car moving near the speed of light, and you turn your headlights on, the light beams will project away from you at the speed of light (186000 m/s). If you threw a rock out the window, the rocks velocity will be how hard you threw it plus the speed of the car, light does not work this way, it is always 186000 m/s and to a person watching you in the car, it would appear you are travelling nearly the speed of the headlights, so they would be slowly moving away from your car, however, to you time would be moving slower and the lights would shoot away from you at the speed of light. Sorry, I know its confusing as I've written it, but its all quite interesting.
2007-03-04 07:33:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋