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Einstein's theory of special and general relativity
Einstein's theory of special and general relativity
Einstein's theory of special and general relativity
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Recommended: Einstein's theory of special and general relativity
For the Science Reader project, I read Black Holes, Wormholes, and Time Machines by Jim Al-Khalili. Interested in time travel and the secrets of space, I chose this book with hopes of better understanding our universe. Starting with black holes, Khalili describes the creation of one. I found that a black hole is what remains when a massive star dies. Because stars are so massive and made out of gas, there is an intense gravitational field that is always trying to collapse the star. As the star dies, the nuclear fusion reactions stop because the fuel for these reactions gets burned up. At the same time, the star's gravity pulls material inward and compresses the core. As the core compresses, it heats up and eventually creates a supernova explosion in which the material and radiation blasts out into space. What remains is the highly compressed and extremely massive core. The core's gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape. This object is now a black hole and literally cannot be seen because of the absence of light. Because the core's gravity is so strong, the core sinks through the fabric of space-time, creating a hole in space-time. The core becomes the central part of the black hole called the singularity. The opening of the hole is called the event horizon. Khalili describes that there are two different kinds of black holes: The Schwarzschild black hole is the simplest black hole, in which the core does not rotate. This type of black hole only has a singularity and an event horizon. The Kerr black hole, which is the most common form, rotates because the star from which it was formed was rotating. When the rotating star collapses, the core continues to rotate, and this carried over to the black hole. The Kerr black hole... ... middle of paper ... ... succeed, what are the consequences of such freedom? Will we get trapped in a plethora of paradoxes and multiple universes that will destroy the fabric of the universe? Einstein said that nothing travels faster than the speed of light, but Khalili negates this statement, using the behavior of entangled particles to counter Einstein. Until recently, theorists believed that wormholes could exist for only an instant of time, and anyone trying to pass through would run into a singularity. But Khalili shows the reader that more recent calculations show that a truly advanced civilization might be able to make wormholes work. By using something physicists call “exotic matter,” which has a negative energy, the civilization could prevent a wormhole from collapsing on itself. Perhaps someday in the far future, wormholes will become a useful asset in universal transportation.
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries is a biography that is divided into 5 chapters total and a total of 42 mini sections. Bringing together more than forty of Tyson's favorite essays explores a myriad of cosmic topics, from what it would be like to be inside a black hole to the movie industry's feeble
The origins of the super-massive black holes which concludes how they were formed and what caused them to form is an unsolved problem which is yet a mystery of astrophysics. ( Millis 2014)
Geologist John Mitchell is credited with first devising the idea of a black hole. He said that if some force could compress the sun down to an small enough size, it would have a gravitational field so strong, that one would need to be going faster than the speed of light to escape it (UTFC). All objects in the universe have what is called a schwarzschild radius. An object’s schwarzschild radius is the radius that an object would have to be compressed into in order to have an escape velocity greater than that of the speed of light, or a black hole. (VSBH).
...onding research are amongst the biggest names in the scientific world. Einstein of course, who laid the foundations. Karl Schwarzschild, who was at the forefront on picking up where Einstein left - Frank Tipler, who devised one of the first models of a time machine; and inspired a generation – Kip Thorne who opened the possibilities of wormholes in the fabric of space-time – and Stephen Hawking, who has explicitly shown a repeated interest in the topic. Even then that’s just to name a few! In the coming chapters I will analyse their work, and investigating whether in principle it is realistically possible to build a working time machine, given our current state of technological and physical progress as a civilization.
Black holes - the strange scientific phenomenon that has astounded physicists and astronomers alike for decades. Popular subjects in science fiction novels, black holes are one of the greatest enigmas of the scientific world. Even today, the concept of a super-dense ball of matter that not even light can escape from is somewhat farfetched, and many scientists disagree with each other about nearly every aspect of a black hole. This project will attempt to shed some light on these mysterious formations, and will inform you the reader of the most popular and widely accepted theories surrounding them.
The idea of Black Holes was first proposed in the 1700s by scientists John Michell and Pierre-Simon Laplace, who argued, independant of each other, that there might be objects in the universe with such a large gravitational force, that even light could be trapped. Published in 1916 Einstein’s theory of general relativity which included how gravity does affect light’s motion, gave way to scientific discoveries involving black holes. In Einstein’s own theory, he was only able to approximate the solutions to some of his own equations, however Karl Schwarzschild was able to provide the solutions. These solutions described objects like black holes that had such massive density that nothing could escape them. Schwarzschild theorized that if an object had such a small radius, that the escape velocity will be greater than the speed of light. Because as previously mentioned, nothing is faster than the speed of light, the object would be sucked into itself by it’s own gravitational pull, which would cause the object to disappear. What r...
Although Dr. Hawking impacts many areas of science and cosmology, his work with black holes has revolutionized modern physics. He works in all areas of black holes, including how they work, singularities, and most importantly, Hawking radiation. Black holes are very simpl...
“The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is so significant because of its influence of pop culture, its innovative combination of comedy and science fiction, and its ability to develop a strong fan base that reveres the series to this day. Many books are special because they were the first to do something or they were published because of the time period, but books that are the most significant are those that reach all audiences because of its
John Michell and Pierre de Laplace, in 1783, showed that when the escape speed from the surface of a body equals the speed of light, Newtonian theory breaks down. According to general relativity, spacetime is curved and the curvature is a measure of the strength of gravity. Thus as a star contracts, its surface gravity increases and spacetime becomes more curved. At the Schwartzschild radius (Rs=2GM/c^2) spacetime is so curved that the body is enclosed, becoming a black hole wrapped in curved spacetime where not even light can escape it. Also, as a mass contracts, its surface gravity increases in strength and light rays emitted from the surface are increasingly redshifted and deflected (gravitational redshift=(l...
Greene continues with his explanations of the special theory of relativity.Chapter 3: Of Warps and Ripples Green begins the chapter by describing "Newton's View of Gravity" and continues by discussing the incompatibility of Newtonian Gravity and Special Relativity. The author also talks about how Einstein discovered the link between acceleration and the warping of space and time. Greene also discuses the basic aspects of General Relativity. He later points out how the two theories of relativity effect black holes, the big bang, and the expansion of space.Chapter 4: Microscopic Weirdness This chapter describes, in detail, the workings of quantum mechanics.
Just recently a major discovery was found with the help of a device known as The Hubble Telescope. This telescope has just recently found what many astronomers believe to be a black hole, After being focuses on a star orbiting empty space. Several pictures of various radiation fluctuations and other diverse types of readings that could be read from that area which the black hole is suspected to be in.
At the point of singularity the effects of Einstein's general theory of relativity become paramount. According to this theory, space becomes curved in the vicinity of matter; the greater the concentration of matter, the greater the curvature. When the star (or supernova remnant) shrinks below a certain size determined by its mass, the extreme curvature of space seals off contact with the outside world. The place beyond which no radiation can escape is called the event horizon, and its radius is called the Schwarzschild radius after the German astronomer Karl Schwarzschild, who in 1916 postulated the existence of collapsed celestial objects that emit no radiation. For a star with a mass equal to that of the sun, this limit is a radius of only 0.9 mi (1.5 km). Even light cannot escape the black hole but is turned back by the enormous pull of gravitation.
During the summer I read ‘The Time Machine” written by H.G wells, with an introduction by Melvin Burgess. This novel is a science fiction novel due to how he uses math to prove that time travel is possible. Our story takes place in 3 of many places. The setting of this story takes place in one single place, but it changes throughout time. It commenced in a suburb of London called Richmond. As the story goes on his surroundings change and now is in a big house where London used to be where Eloi and Morlocks live. Lastly he ends up on a desolate beach in the distant future. The time of the story is from 1980’s throughout million years into the future. ‘The Time Machine’ takes place in many years through the world’s evolution.
A star will blow up with the help of gravitational collapses. When a star explodes from nuclear fusion it is because so much mass has built up within its core and it cannot hold the weight. Neutrons are the only things in nature that can stop a core implosion. When a white dwarf suffers a supernova, the energy comes from the runaway fusion of carbon and oxygen in the core.
Throughout the ages, outstanding physicists, to the movies, to some of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, have pondered the idea of time-travel. The thought of actually being able to travel to another time or universe has long since enthralled, enveloped, and overwhelmed some of the greatest minds in the history of physics. No one person can actually prove any of their theories, but a few actually make sense. Meaning that they do not violate the laws of physics. One of the main theories suggested, are wormholes. Wormholes are considered to connect two regions of flat space-time, two universes, or two parts of the same universe. There is a lot of theoretical evidence that wormholes exist, with an equal amount of evidence that they do not exist. However, no matter what one’s belief is, the existence of wormholes still makes you wonder…