Why did Einstein create his general theory of relativity?

Why did Einstein create his general theory of relativity?

As Einstein later said, the reason for the development of general relativity was the preference of inertial motion within special relativity, while a theory which from the outset prefers no particular state of motion appeared more satisfactory to him.

Where did the theory of relativity come from?

Who came up with the theory of relativity? Albert Einstein. He published the first part of his theory — special relativity — in the German physics journal Annalen der Physik in 1905 and completed his theory of general relativity only after another decade of difficult work.

What evidence supports the theory of relativity?

Another confirmed prediction of general relativity is that time dilates in a gravitational field, meaning that clocks run slower as they approach the mass that is producing the field. This has been measured directly and also through the gravitational redshift of light.

Who actually made the theory of relativity?

In 1905 Einstein discovered the special theory of relativity, establishing the famous dictum that nothing—no object or signal—can travel faster than the speed of light.

What 3 pieces of evidence are used to support an expanding universe?

Three key pieces of observational evidence lend support to the Big Bang theory: the measured abundances of elements, the observed expansion of space, and the discovery of the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

What is an example of theory of relativity?

One example of relativity is to imagine two people on a train playing ping-pong. The train is traveling at around 30 m/s north. When the ball is hit back and forth between the two players, the ball appears to the players to move north at a speed of around 2 m/s and then south at the speed of 2 m/s.

What are the examples of general theory of relativity?

General Relativity theory, developed by Einstein in 1907-1915, states that being at rest in the gravitational field and accelerating are identical physically. For example, an observer can see the ball fall the same way on the rocket and on Earth.

How do they know the universe is 13.7 billion years old?

We do not know the exact age of the universe, but we believe that it is around 13 billion years – give or take a few billion. Astronomers estimate the age of the universe in two ways: (a) by looking for the oldest stars; and (b) by measuring the rate of expansion of the universe and extrapolating back to the Big Bang.

What is the proof that universe is expanding?

In 1929, Edwin Hubble provided the first observational evidence for the universe having a finite age. Using the largest telescope of the time, he discovered that the more distant a galaxy is from us, the faster it appears to be receding into space. This means that the universe is expanding uniformly in all directions.

What is meant by Red Shift?

‘Red shift’ is a key concept for astronomers. The term can be understood literally – the wavelength of the light is stretched, so the light is seen as ‘shifted’ towards the red part of the spectrum. Something similar happens to sound waves when a source of sound moves relative to an observer.

What is the theory of relativity in one sentence?

According to the theory of general relativity, matter causes space to curve. It is posited that gravitation is not a force, as understood by Newtonian physics, but a curved field (an area of space under the influence of a force) in the space-time continuum that is actually created by the presence of mass.

How do you explain relativity to a child?

General relativity says that planets do the same thing to space-time. They actually bend space and time around themselves. That’s why things fall towards the ground. They’re falling towards the middle of the Earth because Earth is pulling space-time towards itself.

How did Einstein prove E mc2?

In the next and last step of his argument, Einstein resorted to a low-speed approximation, with K1=(1/2)m1v2 and K1=(1/2)m2v2. Substituting these approximations into Eq. (2) and comparing terms of order v2, he obtained his mass–energy relation, m1−m2=E/c2.