Unit 12 Activity Relativity

Watch General Relativity Explained Simply and Visually at https://youtu.be/tzQC3uYL67U . Answer the following questions. 1. What was the reaction to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity in 1905? a. Einstein was either ignored or vehemently ridiculed for his Special Theory of Relativity. 2. Why was Einstein not satisfied with the Theory of Special Relativity? a. Einstein wasn’t satisfied because his theory only applied to observers moving in a straight line at a constant speed. 3. What thought experiment inspired Einstein to begin forming the General Theory of Relativity? a. He thought about gravity and acceleration describing the same thing when looking at a window washer and imagining what would happen if the washer fell from the tall ladder. 4. How could a person in a spaceship with no windows tell if they were accelerating? a. A person would be able to tell by shining a flashlight or laser beam toward the other side of the ship and if the light or beam bends that means acceleration. 5. What is the shortest path between two points in normal physics? What is the shortest path in Einstein’s theory? a. The shortest path between two points is straight in normal physics but in Einstein’s theory, the shortest path is curved. 6. What happens to space in the presence of mass or energy? a. In the presence of mass or energy space seems to become curved. 7. How did Jon Wheeler explain General Relativity? a. Jon Wheeler explained General Relativity as space-time telling matter how to move and matter telling space-time how to curve. 8. What effect on a planet’s orbit could not be explained using Newton’s theories, but could be with Einstein’s? a. A perception with a planet’s orbit could not be explained using Newton’s theories but could be with Einstein’s. 9. Describe the observation that gave support to Einstein’s theory. a. Photographers were taken of stars near the Sun during a total solar eclipse showing that the apparent locations of the stars were different due to bending light from the Sun. 10. What happens to time in curved space? a. The time in curved space increases near a gravitational field to be able to keep the speed constant when compared to the speed in empty space. 11. How is General Relativity used to make GPS accurate? a. General Relativity is used to make GPS accurate by taking into account the fact that the clocks on the international space station run a little faster than those on Earth. 12. What two theories remain incompatible, especially regarding the singularity of a black hole? a. Two theories that remain incompatible regarding the singularity of a black hole are gravity and quantum mechanics.