can somone explain the theory of relativity?

[Typ0]

I'm only explaining what little I know and it is from pure interest in reading about it. I am in no way a physicist.
So right, space and time a related. if on one axis you have space and the other time, the line in the graph will be a 45 degree diagonal from the corner because they are proportionate. When you move a point one way or the other it directly affects the other one. So if you incresase the space, that dot moves further down the time part.

As for your second one, I would guess because the speed difference is too small. It might be too small to be measured. As you approach the speed of light at 299 792 458 m/s that difference gets a whole lot bigger. Now as I understand it, that's the theory. However, from what I have read, it is called time dilation.

As for the main theory of E=MC2, That is the energy expended needs to equal the mass X speed of light squared. So as the mass gets closer to the speed of light, the energy increases dramatically. So this theory says that nothing can go faster than the speed of light which we now know isn't correct as they have had particles travel faster than the speed of light.

Hopefully this helps. Sorry if my babbling isn't clear.

another challenge I see with your model is you have space and time on two dimensions...whereas space itself is three dimensions and time is a fourth dimension. We are bound in our descriptions on graphs to three dimensions because they operate within the properties of space...

[Typ0]

I also am not a physicist. I used to have a fascination with all this stuff and read the classic astronomical and philosophical works from Aristotle through Newton. I would say at the time of Copernicus is when the church and science really went in different directions ... and henceforth there was a lot more reading to be done to keep up!

Einstein wrote a book for you http://www.amazon.com/Relativity-Spe.../dp/1891396307

[Discotrish]

Do you think light moves in Zero Gravity?



Patti

[Typ0]

Both light and gravity are properties in this universe. As it's impossible to escape gravity I don't think anyone would know anything about that....people don't seem to want to talk about other universes LOL.

[mightysimi]

Do you think light moves in Zero Gravity?

There is no gravity in space, but light travels from distant stars to earth.

[MikeInRoch]

Of course there is gravity in space. Just some places experience a very small effect from it.

[TigerJ]

But why? does this mean distance/space is related in some way to time?

well, how come my brother isnt older when i go 500mph to cali? i know this is a horrible example, but is this what you are getting at?

He is. Only the differences from travel at the speeds we are capable of traveling are so tiny they seem like nothing to us, even though with very sensitive time keeping devices they can be measured. Obviously, at this point in time, light speed travel is out of reach (Einstein thought it was impossible), so speaking theoretically, if it were, time would stop for those experiencing it. That's 186,000 miles per second for anyone keeping track. Suppose you could travel half the speed of light 93,000 miles per second. While your friends back home experience the passage of an hour of time, you would experience the passing of about 30 minutes. Slow down some more. You're traveling a tenth of the speed of light, 18,600 miles per second. That hour your friends experience would seem like 6 minutes to you on board your space ship. At one percent of the speed of light, 1,860 miles per second, you'd experience 36 seconds with your friends' concurrent experience of an hour. That's still a heck of a lot faster than you can fly to California.

[TigerJ]

Do you think light moves in Zero Gravity?



Patti

There is no place in the universe that experiences zero gravity. When they talk about the weightlessness of being in space, that's a relative term. When you have two guys in a spacecraft, they are exerting gravity on each other. It's just so small they cant tell. While you can't measure it because it's so tiny, your gravity extends to the very limits of space. Most of the time during the journey light takes through space, the influence of gravity is pretty slight, but not immeasurable. One of the primary ways that astronomers can deduce the presence of black holes is by measuring the effect of gravity on light emanating from sources behind the black holes relative to us. Of course, the term "black hole" comes from the fact that the gravity of the black hole is so immense that even light can't escape from it. Incidently, the way gravity works is by distorting space.

[TigerJ]

Sorry, I thought I was editing my post (a simple spelling correction) but ended up double posting. Now I'm past the 10 minute limit and I can't delete the incorrect one.

[justasportsfan]

in laymans terms, can someone explain the best they can the theory of relativity?

time moves slower when in the presence of your in-laws

[Dozerdog]

yeah, i get it. it just seems odd thinking that literal time is slowing down when you go faster... doesnt this create the grandfather paradox though? and twin paradox?

Think of it as two really hot chick twins- One gets into a rocket ship as and travels in space- the other waits patiently. The space traveler intends to ride at 99.9999999% the speed of light for 10 minutes.

The twin on the rocket ship looks at her watch, and 10 minutes goes by and returns to earth. To this person, the trip felt like lasted 10 minutes. The one waiting on earth sees 80 years go by. The faster to the speed of light you travel, time slows down- unless you are the actual traveler

[IlluminatusUIUC]

yeah, i get it. it just seems odd thinking that literal time is slowing down when you go faster... doesnt this create the grandfather paradox though? and twin paradox?

The grandfather paradox would only happen if you somehow traveled backward in time. That's not what we are talking about here. I gave a link to the twin paradox.

[Typ0]

Think of it as two really hot chick twins- One gets into a rocket ship as and travels in space- the other waits patiently. The space traveler intends to ride at 99.9999999% the speed of light for 10 minutes.

The twin on the rocket ship looks at her watch, and 10 minutes goes by and returns to earth. To this person, the trip felt like lasted 10 minutes. The one waiting on earth sees 80 years go by. The faster to the speed of light you travel, time slows down- unless you are the actual traveler

Why do I get the sense there is more to this story?