Essay on Albert Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity

The general and widespread acceptance of Sir Isaac Newton’s models and laws may often be taken for granted, but this has not always been so. Throughout history, scientists and philosophers have built on each other’s theories to create improved and often revolutionary models. Although Newton was neither the first nor the last to bring major innovations to society, he was one of the most notable ones; many of his contributions are still in use today. With the formulation of his laws of motion, Sir Isaac Newton contributed to the downfall of Aristotelianism and provided a universal quantitative system for approximating and explaining a wide range of phenomena of space and the physics of motion, revolutionizing the study and understanding

Einstein has brought many insights of life including the theory of the speed of light, which has led to the special theory of relativity that molded the way science, is today. “For example, various experiments, including the Michelson-Morley experiment, failed to measure the expected changes in the speed of light relative to the motion of the Earth. Due to this Einstein recognized that light has a measured speed that is independent of the speed of the observer” (“Albert Einstein.” 4). “Einstein showed in 1907 that mass is related to energy by the famous equation E=mc^2, which indicates the enormous amount of energy that is stored as mass, some of which is released in radioactivity and nuclear radiations, for example in the sun” (4).This enabled Einstein to be able to start and finish the general theory of relativity.

The Economist’s article “The most beautiful theory” discusses Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. It explains the origins of general relativity through Einstein’s initial thought experiments that eventually led to the realization that the university functions in four dimensions (“three spatial dimensions, one temporal one”) and that mass curved space-time, creating gravity. Over time, Einstein’s theory was verified by observations, such as those made by Arthur Eddington when he noticed the skew of light around the sun during an eclipse, which could only have been due to distorted space-time. His theory has also been expanded over the years as physicists try to combine general relativity with

The first of the Special Theory of relativity’s affects, causes the phenomena of time dilation. Time

Dylan is a tall and lean young man, not even out of high school, life on the streets is hard. He was kicked out by his mother when she found a new man,16-year-old Dylan Wallace has been panhandling on the streets, preparing for winter. Dylan panhandles barely enough money to eat. As the weather gets colder and the going gets harder Dylan wants to know what he did to deserve this life. He doesn’t want to deal drugs or turn tricks like his friends, he does not want to be one of ‘’vulture’’ slaves. Dylan can’t get a job because he has no fixed address, he’s always dirty and hungry his long dark hair often matted his head. He has turned to petty theft. He doesn't trust anyone who wants to help, like Ainsley, a former street kid now working her way through school to become a social worker.

There are three laws of motion. Nancy Hall states that Isaac Newton worked in many areas of mathematics and physics. In 1666, when he was 23 years old, he developed the theories of gravitation (2015). Otherwise known as Newton’s first, second, and third Laws of Motion. In agreement with HyperPhysics, “Newton's First Law states that an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force” (HyperPhysics). Newton’s first law can also be recognized as the Law of Inertia. Essentially, what Newton's First Law is stating that objects behave predictably. For instance, a chair is not going to move unless a force is acted upon

Newton was the Englishmen who formulated the modern laws of motion and mechanics. It remained unchallenged until the twentieth century. The core of his thinking was the concept of the universe. He declared that all bodies whatsoever are endowed with the principle of mutual gravitation. He was the grand unifying idea of early modern science. (Ways of the World, 557)

Modern physicists found, however, that at the physical extremes of nature-the microcosmic realm of atomic particles and the macrocosmic world of heavy astronomical bodies-the laws of Newton’s principia did not apply. German physicist, Albert Einstein, made public his special theory of relativity, a radically new approach to the new concepts of time, space, motion, and light. Building on Einstein’s theories, Werner Heisenberg theorized that since the very act of measuring subatomic phenomena altered them, the position and the velocity of a subatomic particle could not be measured

The new physics undermined the Newtonian picture’s of the universe because until the nineteenth century, the view of the universe was based on Newtonian physics. Newtonian physics was that time, space and mater were relative, the universe is a machine and only obeys cause and effect, and atoms are a basic unit of mater. It wasn’t till the late nineteenth century that this idea was diminished. It was by a theoretical physicist Albert Einstein who published his “Special Theory of Relativity.” This book included the theory that absolute space and time were not fixed, as was believed by under Newtonian physics. By proving that small amounts of matter could be turned into large amounts of energy, Einstein pretty much shattered the thought of Newtonian

With his 3 laws of motion, Newton changed our understanding of the universe. The first law of motion states that an object at rest or moving will not be in motion or stop unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This basically means that an object will stay in whichever position or continue to be in motion until an unbalanced force moves it or stops it. This law is also known as the “law of inertia” In the second law of motion, Newton states that acceleration happens when a force acts on mass. The greater the mass is on the object accelerated, the greater amount of force needed to accelerate the object. The second law shows an exact relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. This law is also expressed as a mathematical equation:

The discovery of these laws, laid down a basic foundation for the physics of motion. Newton's three laws of gravity changed the way in which the world was perceived, because of their accuracy in describing many unexplained phenomenons.3 They explained what happens as a result of different variables, but most importantly, they explained why and how these actions happen. Like many of Isaac Newtons ideas and theories, the three laws of motion had a profound impact on the scientific community. The three laws of motions provided an explanation for almost everything in macro physics. Macro Physics is the branch of physics that deals with physical objects large enough to be observed and treated directly.4 This allowed for many new advancements in physics because the foundation had been build for others to develop upon. Isaac Newton published these findings in his revolutionary book “The Principa”. The Principa was revolutionary book because it organized the bulk of his life’s work, More importantly the

General Relativity is a two part theory created by the German physicist, Albert Einstein. The two sections of relativity is special relativity and general relativity. Special relativity focuses more on lines, constant-velocity motion on the mass of objects, the passage throughout time, and that passing the speed of light is impossible. General relativity deals with accelerated motion, gravitational fields on mass, size, and time. General relativity also states that matter and space effect each other and that the universe ends and there may be more universes out there. Relativity also includes space-time. Many people think that space and time are completely different variables, but physicists often combine them into “space-time”. Space-time is a four-dimensional coordinate system used in relativity and other areas of physics. The dimensions are, length, width, height, and the 4th is the time dimension.

This postulate developed by Einstein has what some would call key problems and would cause uproar in conventional thinking. Things such as time now become variables when original thinking classified it as an unchanging constant. Just thinking about this prospect can be mind boggling. Time is something that everyone takes for granted as being a constant flow, just ticking away, and perpetual. But, in fact, it is something that depends entirely on space-time. How do we know that time is relative? Imagine a different kind of clock. This clock is unique because instead of a hand ticking away it is actually a beam of light bouncing between two mirrors. This would seem the most logical choice of an accurate clock because light is a constant right? As we observe the clock it ticks off at regular

The third paper was on electrodynamics of moving bodies. It became known as the theory of relativity. It explains how matter and radiation interact with one another. With these well thought out papers Albert Einstein had solved the unanswered problems of the world. He wanted to learn more and began to try and answer the questions of the universe. In 1939 Einstein connected with other scientists and wrote a letter to the president, Franklin D.

Before Einstein, Scientists believed that light waves travelled through a medium called ether. Einstein proved that ether was irrelevant and that light doesn’t travel through a medium. Einstein proved this by figuring out that the speed of light was constant, and in order for ether to be the medium light waves travel through, the speed of light would change depending on the observer. This discovery was one piece of the Specific Theory of Relativity.