General Theory
of Relativity
General relativity explained in under three minutes
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Theory of Special Relativity
▰ Dependent on two postulates:
○ The law of physics are invariant in all
inertial frames of references (i.e. non-
accelerating frames of references)
○ The speed of light in a vacuum is the
same for all observers, regardless of
the motion of the light source or
observer
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What does that mean?
Imagine you have a rocket
with its velocity equal to
half the speed of light. It
then shoots a laser at the
speed of light.
You would think that the
laser of the light would go
at the speed of 1.5 speed
of light. However, the
speed of light can’t change.
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How is the speed of light still
the same?
▰ Based on the equation for velocity, v = d/t,
that means that either time or distance
must change.
▰ Relative changing of time: time dilation
▰ Relative changing of length: length
contraction
▰ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
NN_m2yKAAk
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Spacetime
▰ Any mathematical model that fuses the
three dimensions of space and the one
dimension of time into a singular four-
dimensional continuum
▰ “Interwoven fabric”
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The Equivalence Principle
▰ Equivalence of gravitational and inertial
mass
▰ The gravitational “force” as experienced
locally while standing on a massive body
(earth) is the same as the pseudo-force
experienced by an observer in a non-
inertial frame of reference
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The Equivalence Principle (cont).
If you drop a ball and it
falls, you would assume
that you would be
unmoving on earth. But
you could be on an elevator
in space with constant
acceleration, which would
give the appearance of
gravity
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The Equivalence Principle (cont).
Another situation: if you’re
in an elevator and floating
and you drop a ball and it
doesn’t move, you could
either be in space with
little to no gravity or free
falling (weightlessness)
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Bending of Spacetime
▰ Space is distorted around massive objects
because of mass
▰ Answered Newton’s question of where
gravity comes from: result of the earth
bending spacetime
○ You are being pulled down to the
bottom of the spacetime fabric
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Why should I care?
▰ Predicted black holes
○ A sufficiently compact mass can deform
spacetime to form black holes
▰ Used as a basis of cosmological models of
a constantly expanding universe
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What now?
▰ General relativity is incomplete
○ We do not know how general relativity
matches with quantum physics
○ One proposed solution: string theory
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“Brian Greene Explains That Whole General Relativity Thing”
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Questions?
Feel free to ask :)
