The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, refers specifically to two theories: Albert Einstein's special relativity and general relativity.
The term "relativity" was coined by Max Planck in 1908 to emphasize how special relativity (and later, general relativity) uses the principle of relativity.
Special relativity is a theory of the structure of spacetime. It was introduced in Albert Einstein's 1905 paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Special relativity is based on two postulates which are contradictory in classical mechanics:
The laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion relative to one another (Galileo's principle of relativity),
The speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of their relative motion or of the motion of the source of the light.
The resultant theory has many surprising consequences. Some of these are:
Time dilation: Moving clocks tick slower than an observer's "stationary" clock.
Length contraction: Objects are shorter along the direction in which they are moving.
Relativity of simultaneity: two events that appear simultaneous to an observer A will not be simultaneous to an observer B if B is moving with respect to A.
Mass-energy equivalence: per the relationship E = mc², energy and mass are equivalent and transmutable.
The defining feature of special relativity is the replacement of the Galilean transformations of classical mechanics by the Lorentz transformations. (See Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism and introduction to special relativity).
2007-04-15 23:50:05
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answer #1
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answered by Ravinder C 2
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It isn't a force. The foreshortening is simply a feature of the stationary observer's point of view. To use an analogy, according to Newton, an object will remain stationary/ in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by a force. Your question is akin to asking what makes it be stationary when no force acts. It is simply the inevitable nature of logically consistent reality.
2007-04-15 23:55:31
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answer #2
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answered by Ian I 4
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The object does not shrink. If you were in your space ship, all dimensions would look normal to you... Now, if I measure your speed as very close to the speed of light, I will see you as shrinking in the direction of your motion. If some one is in a ship moving with your speed right next to you, everything looks perfectly normal.
2007-04-16 00:18:36
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answer #3
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answered by Gene 7
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Part of the idea of the theory of relativity is that measurements in one coordinate system have to be adjusted to give results in another coordinate system. In this case, the object will look contracted *to you* if it is going past *you* at close to the speed of light. But to the object itself, it will look normal. The contraction is not due to a force, but simply an effect of different observers looking at the same thing.
Another subtlety of this is that the there is no *absolute* velocity other than that of light. Whenever you say something is moving, you have to say what it is moving with respect to. Everything will be at rest with respect to itself! If I am moving at velocity v with respect to you, the you are moving at velocity -v with respect to me. Each of us will see the *other* as contracted, but see ourselves as normal. The only exception is something moving at the speed of light, which will go at that speed no matter who sees it.
2007-04-16 01:52:39
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answer #4
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answered by mathematician 7
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evaluate the time it takes to combine the components and bake the brownies. The time varies with how many bran brownies you propose to make, besides because of the fact the dimensions of the brownies. That reported, bran brownies will boost in mass as they attitude easy speed and settlement quite than improve. See my previous remark on the sci notation of the bran muffin. .
2016-12-29 15:40:53
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answer #5
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answered by ? 3
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the object is shrinking only with respect to the other intertial reference frame. It will not shrink with respect to itself.
2007-04-15 23:48:53
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answer #6
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answered by The Potter Boy 3
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start from here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity
2007-04-15 23:49:54
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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