Theory of relativity
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Theory of Relativity was created by Galileo Galilei in the 1600's. It was then developed more by Albert Einstein in the early 1900's. The theory of relativity is two theories. The first is Special Relativity and the second is General Relativity.
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[edit] Special Relativity
Special Relativity says that every person has their own time. One person's clock says something different from another person's clock. The reason a person's time can be different from another's is because of Time Dilation, which can be thought of more easily by the Twin Paradox.
[edit] Twin Paradox
The Twin Paradox shows how time is changed because of speed and mass. The faster someone moves or the more mass that they are around makes time go slower for them. This is shown by a pair of twins. If one of them goes away at fast speeds they will be younger than their brother when they return since time went slower for them than it did for the twin that stayed home.
- Speed and mass affect how fast time goes
[edit] General Relativity
General Relativity adds gravity to Special Relativity. It says that space and time are joined together. Space is like a grid. Balls(planets) on the grid bend it because of their weight or speed. As one ball moves towards another it falls towards the other ball due to the dent in the grid. It can be shown by putting balls on a trampoline. The dent in the grid is like gravity.
[edit] How it works with Special Relativity
If space and time are one thing and that is shown by a grid; then dents in the grid show why time slows down around heavy things.
[edit] References
- The Universe in A Nutshell by Stephen Hawking Bantam Books 2001
