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Einstein's Relativity, Literature and Perception Essay

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Einstein's Relativity, Literature and Perception

The effect relativity had on literature was that it gave a new way of viewing objects moving at speeds near light. What a person sees depends on their viewpoint. Relativity states that as an object moves faster from a relatively stationary point the object becomes warped, or a plane that flies 'straight" over a merry-go-round would appear curved to the rider. These are two examples of the way relativity causes someone to think. The biggest direct effect on literature was that relativity made time travel possible. Before Einstein was thought to be a fantastic yet impossible feat. Relativity only solved half the problem, time travel into the future. This occurs through time dilation. The …show more content…

The outside observer views the origin as a moving point, so the light headed towards the back of the train car doesn't have to travel as far since the back wall is traveling towards the light. The light headed towards the front wall has to catch up with a wall that is moving away from the light beam. Now if we assume the train is moving at the speed of light, the inside observer will see the same as before, while the outside observer will never see the light touch the front wall. This brings up the question of simultaneity. The inside observer sees the light strike the walls at the same time. The outside observer sees them strike the walls at different times. This brings up two other important aspects of relativity, relative length and mass to velocity and time dilation. We are taught that two things in experiments that are constants are mass and length. This is wrong though. Length and mass are velocity relative; length and mass at the same velocity is the same. As an object increases velocity its length decreases and its height increases, and its mass increases. Length is shortened in everything by the same amount (eq I ), and mass increases because energy increases (eq 2,3). Here's an interesting example. A person is running at 74,448 m/s with a twelve foot ladder that weighs 36 kg towards an eleven foot three inch barn to put it away. To this person

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