The Law of Relativity | eBook | AudioBook

The Following is an Excerpt from this Book

The law of relativity is a revolutionary theory that has changed how physics looks today. The law of relativity was published by Albert Einstein. The law is divided into two theories. The first theory is special relativity which was formulated and published in 1905. It took Einstein over a decade to publish the general theory of relativity.

Einstein’s studies correlate with work done by Galileo and Newton. However, his ground-breaking theories are solely responsible for identifying some of the physics most devastating consequences, which are still followed to date.

The theory of special relativity talks about objects in uniform motion. The theory quite essentially explains the relationship between time and space. This theory has two main postulates by which it functions. This is the principle of invariant light and the principle of relativity. This entire theory’s main concept is how reference frames and relative motion works and how it affects an observer’s ability to see an event. Some of the major consequences of special relativity theory are time dilation, length contraction, relativistic mass, the maximum speed is infinite, relativity of simultaneity, and mass-energy equivalence. The theory is mostly used to calculate events happening in different reference frames at a time.

The special theory of relativity was an upgrade to the theory of special relativity. However, the theory was rarely used in the early days. It was used as a means to make minor adjustments to certain theories and for experimental purposes. Also, the mathematics used in these laws was difficult and could only be understood and used by a few people. This changed as time went by, and people started finding answers and solutions using this theory.

The General theory of relativity deals with accelerating objects and talks about how gravity affects them. It discusses how forces of gravity, along with inertial forces, are similar in nature. Einstein discussed how gravitational waves are caused by some of the most energetic and violent processes in the universe caused by big objects like black holes and neurons. They are orbiting each other would disrupt spacetime leading the waves to move in all directions away from the source.

A few prominent consequences of the general theory of relativity are gravitational time dilation, frame-dragging, Precession, Metric expansion of space, and light deflection. Some of these consequences have taken place right at the instance, while the latter had to be researched years at a time to get conclusive outcomes.

In his theory of general relativity, Einstein speculates the presence of time travel and the existence of wormholes. This, however, is not possible in the world we know today, but if there are some unforeseen circumstances, there are chances these events may come to fruition. He also talks about the presence of black holes long before anyone was aware of its existence. This theory, put forth by Einstein, portrays the best methods to predict gravitational interactions. Like with everything, there are some drawbacks to this theory. One of the most prominent is scientists’ inability to develop quantum theories that can help explore this theory fully.

Humans have used Einstein’s law of relativity to produce electronic gadgets, separate gold from other metals, find out about the origination of fossils, used it to generate electricity, and most importantly, set up a global positioning system (GPS). Most of our day to day products are obtained from manufacturing processes. Manufacturing wouldn’t be possible if Einstein’s law of relativity didn’t exist. In simple words, Einstein is one of the reasons for humans enjoying a luxurious life.