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Applications of the Theory of Relativity

** The Theory of Relativity ** The world is now on a new age of discovery. Inventions and innovations are created about every day. Yesterday, it was the discovery of a huge robot vacuum. What will be the invention tomorrow? Above all discoveries, the theory of relativity is the most important discovery in the 20th century. It has revolutionized the way people think of the physical world. The theory of relativity has a tremendous impact on current society. It has shaped the current view of time, black holes, and traveling to distant planets. In 1905, Albert Einstein published his book //On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies // which was his findings of the special theory of relativity. The special theory of relativity is basically about the idea that all uniform motion is relative. And there is no absolute frame of reference. Sounds simple however in order to apply this to all of the laws of physics it becomes very complicated. Not only those this applies to motion, but it also applies to space, time and mass. According to the idea of length contraction by Hendrix Lorentz, the length of an object changes when the speed increases from the frame of reference. Einstein’s time dilation theory suggested that time was relative to the speed as well. Also, due to the equation E=MC^2, mass is relative by the amount of pure energy within it. The theory of relativity also suggests that speed of light can also never be faster (Einstein). After Einstein published his theory of special relativity, he thought how his theory can also include gravity. So in 1916 Einstein published his theory of general relativity. Einstein theorized everything in the universe accelerated to each other in proportion to its mass. He said there is little difference from acceleration to gravity since they are each forces pushing on a mass. He also stated due to large masses in the universe it causes the universe to be curvature (Einstein). Scientists now use Einstein’s theory of relativity to prove if time travel is really possible. Ever since the beginning of science, man has dreamed of going back in time. It is a recurring theme in literature and media. However, many believe it as totally fictional. In Einstein's theory of special relativity he specifies time travel could be possible. He says based on speed if you were to move faster (jet, space ship) the time you took over your distance is much shorter relative to a person going a slower speed. However, the time seems to be the same to each person. He calls it time dilation (Einstein). This theory has been proven to exist since this idea was tested in the 70s by scientists using a jet. They put an atomic clock in the jet and had travel at high speeds. When it returned, they found the clock was a little off (Fuller). He also applies this when time seems to go fast or slow. It is merely on how fast your mind is thinking which controls your sense of time. Einstein has an example of time dilation which he calls the twin parallax. In this example, two twins are separated. One twin remains at earth, while the other travels 25 light years away at close to the speed of light. After the one twins voyage there and back he is merely 10.5 years older. However, the other twin is 50 years older. Has the traveling twin come to the future (Lightman)? This idea may be possible if such a speed was arrived, but many speculate the body of the twin would adjust to the change of time. Thus, the twin would grow older in a seeming faster time. Black holes are dead stars that have massive amounts of energy. Einstein did not believe they were even real. They were actually discovered in 1939 by J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hartland Snyder (Lightman). They used Einstein’s theory of relativity to describe its behavior. The star usually dies when a large enough energy from the gravity field overwhelms the star to collapse. The energy gets condensed into the core of the dead star, thus causing a massive mass to appear. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity the mass would cause a huge gradational force, thus causing a hole to appear in the space-time continuum. The mass was so dense that neither light nor anything can pass through. Scientists have no idea what happens to a mass if it were ever in a black hole (Freudenrich). Now with all the limitations of the theory of relativity, it has restricted our ability to explore the universe. There is no doubt that in the future, civilization will want to go beyond the space of earth’s orbits. It was fairly easy to get to the moon; however, what if humankind wanted to travel to another distant galaxy which is light years away. There are many problems of Einstein’s theory of relativity that would restrict this desire. First, according to the special theory of relativity, speeds cannot go beyond the speed of light (Einstein). So a planet that is thousands of light years away cannot be reached. Also, every time an explorer is traveling at extremely fast speeds, he or she will technically be traveling to the future due to time dilation (Einstein). So is travelling impossible? Maybe not if we consider some science fiction ideas. You probably heard of the star trek series or star wars trilogy. The way they travel is through jumping their ships into "warp speed." According to Einstein's theory of general relativity all of space is in curlicue forms due to gravity. So some believe if enough energy is formed a kind of dip can be bending into the time continuum. This would make the distance much shorter and at the same time take less speed. Of course to do this some kind of reaction is needed to catalyze this warp (Fuller).
 * Back to The Future **
 * Black Holes **
 * Hit the Hyper-Drive **

The theory of relativity has a tremendous impact on current society. It has shaped the current view of time, black holes, and high speeds. I think in the future we will venture out into space thus come into these problems dealing with relativity. Can we go out into space and travel at such high speeds without wreaking the time continuum. A black hole may come near earth and get in our way. Another possibility is we will try to time travel. Regardless, we should try to plot out the exact ways to approach these phenomena without causing a destruction of the universe since we know so little about it.

Fuller, John. "How Warp Speed Works." 07 March 2008. HowStuffWorks.com. 04 February 2009 <http://science.howstuffworks.com/warp-speed.htm //This website explains relativity and more specifically if warp speed is possible. It also has videos, diagrams and pictures. It is a trusted source because it is written by a graduate and lists his contact information. Also, the website is a great research database.//

Einstein, Albert. //Relativity: The Special and General Theory.// New York: Henry Holt, 1920; Bartleby.com, 2000. 04 February 2009. [|www.bartleby.com/173/]. //This site gives the exact copy of Einstein's theory of relativity. This includes general realtivty and special relativity. It is very in depth in the research and explanation. It also photos of Einstein and concepts. This site is creditable because the site is a trusted site that publishes books. Also, the book is written by Einstien with little abridge. The translator is a creditable professor too.//

Lightman, Alan. "Relativity and the Cosmos." pbs.org. June 2005. 04 February 2009. . //This website contains a lot of good information, but it is not overwhelming, which makes it easy to read. Also, it has illustrations that help you to understand the theory of relativity. It is credible because it was written by a physicist and includes a photograph of him and personal information to confirm that he is an actual person.//