shellyh

__** Theory Of Relativity **__ Albert Einstein has been given credit for developing the Theory of Relativity. In 1905, Einstein published the Special Theory of Relativity. He said that the relative rate of motion between any observer and any ray of light is always the same, and this is a result of the objects moving relative to each other with constant velocity. In 1915, Einstein developed the Theory of General Relativity. He said objects accelerated with respect to one another. In another words objects affect objects. This theory included the effects of gravitation on the shape of space and the flow of time. (Myanmar "Albert Einstein's Quote")     This is a picture of the famous physicist Albert Einstein. He developed the Theory of Relativity. **
 * Brief Background: **
 * Impacts on society if Theory of Relativty would be rejected:
 * If the Theory of Relativity was rejected then everything we know about gravity, light and physics would be wrong.***

Gravity:  If the Theory of Relativity was to be proved wrong then our idea of gravity would less understood. We would still be strictly following Newton's law of gravitational pull. We would not have the understanding that objects are not attracted in direct proportion, but instead the continuum is curved by massive objects (Bornstein "Relativty"). We would have to figure out a new way as to why the planets are orbiting around the sun. Einstein saw that our space time was in 4-dimensional space fabric. He saw that things were moving in the unified fabric and it was being warped and stretched by heavy objects. The planets follow curves in the spacial fabric caused by the sun. They are still traveling in a straight path but the curve is keeping it from moving out of orbit. If we the Theory of Relativity was proved to be false then how would we be able to explain the planets orbiting around the earth. Without the Theory of Relativity we would not understand how any of this would happen and therefore would be completely lost on how our planet stays in orbit due to gravity. http://link.history.com/services/link/bcpid1398218663/bclid1475274665/bctid1475165838 ("Beyond The Big Bang: Albert Einstein")
 * For a good visual on how the threory of relativity helps our understanding of gravity, click on the link below. This is a brief video from The History Channel.

Light:       Our perception on light would not fully be understood if we did not have the Theory of Relativity. Einstein had developed the special theory of relativity. He said that t    here is "no ether, and the speed of light is the same for all observers, whatever their relative motion and the laws of nature are the same in all inertial frames" (Dine "Relativity"). "It is this ether that is the medium through which light propagates"(Harrison "Special Theory of Relativity") No one would understand the motion of particles moving at close to the speed of light. We would not understand why quantities like length and time must change from each observer in order to get consistent results. We would be very confused as to why we are seeing the same things moving but will appear to be moving at different speeds. If we do not understand the speed of light then we can't understand how most objects move! <span style="font-size: 90%; color: #3be353; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="color: #43ef4b; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #0de72e; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; color: rgb(32,188,57); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">(Harrison "Special Theory of Relativity") <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span style="font-size: 90%; color: rgb(51,204,69); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Einstein's statement about the speed of light leads to all strange consequences like time dilation, length contradiction, etc. This lattice represents an inertial frame of reference and we imagine that we are at rest relative to the lattice. We synchronise the clocks to the "Reference Clock." To do this correctly requires taking into account that if we are standing by one of the clocks looking at the Reference Clock, the time that we see on the Reference is not the current time, but is the time it was reading when the light we see left the clock. Thus we have to account for the small but finite time it takes light to travel from the Reference Clock to us standing beside another clock. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span style="font-size: 90%; color: rgb(51,204,69); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">(Harrison "Special Theory of Relativity")   <span style="font-size: 90%; color: #3be353; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="color: #43ef4b; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #0de72e; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(180,27,248);">Physics: Physics in general would totally change. Theories based off the Theory of Relativity would be incorrect because scientist have used Einstein's discoveries to explain things in the universe (Dine "Relativity"). This means that many of our scientific information would be incorrect. A lot of what we learn in physics class relates with gravity which is due to the Theory of Relativity. This means that most of what we are learning in class would totally change. All are equations would be wrong and we would have trouble calculating something as easy as how fast objects would roll down a frictionless incline. Our future physicist would not have the proper calculations and could cause a great disaster. The Theory of Relativity has such an impact on solving things in the world of physics that if it would be proved wrong then would be lost and could cause great danger. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">

<span style="color: rgb(55,205,75); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">("Holt Physics, 2002") <span style="color: rgb(55,205,75); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(55,205,75); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Physics Textbooks like the one above would contain invalid information and equations. This is because many equations and information are based off of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. <span style="color: #3be353; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> ** Wrapping It All Up: ** <span style="color: #3ce25d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The Theory of Relativity has an impact of our understanding of gravity, light and physics in general. If it were to be rejected then it could cause great damage or confusion to our world. We would be still puzzled in figuring out how our earth stays in orbit and how the speed of light works. Our scientist would not be able to calculate certain things correctly that relativity affects and could cause a catastrophe. Our society would be much different if we rejected Einstein's Theory of Relativity. The only way rejecting the theory would not harm us is if they came up with a better theory that thoroughly explained relativity. If that would be the case then the question would be then is how have we been successfully calculating everything and not had it go wrong? Only time will tell if Einstein is truly correct, but for now it is the best explanation for everything. ** <span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(168,24,205); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Bibliography <span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(190,13,227);">: ** **<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0,0,0); line-height: normal; font-family: Times;">"Albert Einstein's Quote". Myanmar's NET. 27 January 2009 <http://www.myanmars.net/>. ** "Beyond The Big Bang: Albert Einstein". The History Channel. 27 January 2009 <http://link.history.com/services/link/bcpid1398218663/bclid1475274665/bctid1475165838>. <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> Bornstein, Lawrence. "Relativity". MSN. 23 January 2009 < http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558302_2/Relativity.html>. <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> Dine, Michael. "Relativity." World Book Online Reference Center. 2004. World Book, Inc. 26 January 2009 <http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar464240>. ** <span style="color: rgb(3,2,2); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">**Annotation:** This website explains the history of theory of relativity by Einstein. It also explains the general and special theory of relativity and everything that involves with it. It includes the experiments of other scientists that involves theory of relativity. This website is a validate website because the organization of the website is with nasa. The author of the article is a ph.d and a prefessor of physics in university of california. The website is updated within the last two years.
 * Annotation:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">This article includes a short background information of relativity, classical physics, Special Theory of Relativity, General Theory of Relativity, Confirmation/Modifications, and later observations. This gave a lot of great information and described very well in a clear way. It also has certain words highlighted where you can click on that word and it takes to a link where it gives you more information on that topic. I found that very helpful because there were certain people or ideas that I did not know and I was able to learn without having to go look it up. This is written by someone who has a Ph.D in physics and is a professor at New York University.

Harrison, David. "Special Theory of Relativity". UPSCALE. 23 January 2009 **   <span style="color: rgb(3,2,2); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/SpecRel/SpecRel.html>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0,0,0); line-height: normal; font-family: Times;">**Annotation:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">This article includes topics like Speed of Light, Michelson-Morley Experiment, Einstein's explanation for the Michelson-Morley Experiment, Consequences of Einstein's explanation, and Relative Speeds. It gives you the information and then has examples for explanations, flash animations, diagrams, cartoons, and stories/parables to help explain the information. It is very helpful for someone trying to understand the Special Theory of Relativity. It gives a lot of reliable information and is organized through a university to help their students understand physics. I found this website very helpful and easy to understand.

"Holt Physics, 2002". Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 27 January 2009 <http://go.hrw.com/hrw.nd/hrw_catalog/p2Program? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0,0,0); line-height: normal; font-family: Times;"> caId=4&paId=52&pId=30769>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0,0,0); line-height: normal; font-family: Times;">