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 * The Theory of Relativity **
 * [[image:http://www.myastrologybook.com/Albert-Einstein.jpg width="196" height="196" caption="Albert Einstein (Albert Einstein history of astrology)"]] || [[image:http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/%7Ekuncic/images/E=mc2.jpg width="232" height="193" caption="Einstein's Forumla (Zdenka's web pages)"]] || [[image:http://utf.mff.cuni.cz/Relativity/SCAN/EINST05.JPG width="151" height="198" caption="Albert Einstein (Albert Einstein)"]] || [[image:http://hunternuttall.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/albert-einstein.jpg width="162" height="200" caption="Albert Einstein (The Introverts Strike Back)"]] ||

Albert Einstein's theory of relativity is still just as important now as it was when Einstein first published the idea in 1905 And, according to recent experiments, the theory is also just as correct.

Einstein's theory of relativity is actually composed to two theories - the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity. The special theory of relativity was based upon two postulates formulated by Einstein. They are:

The special theory discusses how the speed of light is always measured at a bout 300,000 km/s, no matter what the speed is of the observer. Because of this, time slows down and the length of the distance decreases. (TeacherTube)
 * 1)** The speed of light is the same for all observers, no matter what their relative speeds.
 * 2)** The laws of physics are the same in any inertial (that is, non-accelerated) frame of reference. (This means that the laws of physics observed by a hypothetical observer traveling with a relativistic particle must be the same as those observed by an observer who is stationary in the laboratory) (Theory: Special Relativity).

The general theory of relativity describes gravity. It is based upon the equivalence principle, which states: Gravity accelerates all objects equally regardless of their masses or the materials from which they are made (Barry, Patrick). It provides a new description of gravity, which is that it's a curvature of space-time and that large objects can bend space-time. It goes into saying that large gravitational fields can actually bend light (TeacherTube).

Einstein's special and general theories of relativity are widely accepted as correct. There is much evidence proving that Einstein's predictions were all accurate. Three examples are shown below.

 Atomic Clocks 
 *  If everything is relative, then if an object is moving at the speed of light, it will seem slower to things around it that are moving at a "normal speed". So, an experiment was done in 1971. Scientists took two atomic clocks, which are extremely accurate. One they put on a jet to travel around the world at 600 mph. The other one was kept on Earth. They were both started at the exact same time. However, when the clock that was traveling around the world came back to its original starting point, it was a few billionths of a second behind the clock that stayed on the ground. This proved that time, in fact, did slow down, which gave a good reason to believe that Einstein's theory was correct. (NOVA)   || [[image:http://www.atomicclocks.us/clock-400.jpg width="209" height="209" caption="Atomic Clock (About Atmoicclocks.us)"]] ||

The Perihelion 
 * The perihelion of Mercury also confirms Einstein's theory. A perihelion is  the point in the path of a celestial body (as a planet) that is nearest to the sun. The perihelion of Mercury actually advances. The advance is about 56 seconds of arc per century (Procession of the Perihelion of Mercury). This is inexplicable by other theories. However, the theory of relativity predicts this motion, and recent radar measurements have confirmed this to within .5%. (Bornstein, Lawrence) || [[image:http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/images/merc_adv.gif width="365" height="327" caption="A diagram showing Mercury's perihelion (The Advance of the Perihelion of Mercury)"]] ||

Binary Pulsar 
 * [[image:http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1993/taylor.jpg caption="Joseph Taylor (Physics 1993)"]] || In 1993, Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. In 1974, they discovered the first binary pulsar (called PSR 1913 + 16). A binary pulsar is a rapidly rotating nuetron star. They are very dense and have a strong travitational field. According to Einstein's theory, binary pulsars should give off gravity waves that travel at the speed of light and remove energy from their system. The energy loss should slowly brake the speed of rotation. Taylor and Hulse measured the rate of slowing. It proved that Einstein's theory is correct. (General Relativity) || [[image:http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1993/hulse.jpg caption="Russell Hulse (Physics 1993)"]] ||

<span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(166, 33, 165);">Einstein's special and general theories of relativity had, and are still having, a massive impact on science. Of course, they brought about movies where people travel at the speed of light for years and years and never age. More importantly however, his theories changed the way that people think about light, motion, and time. The experiments with the atomic clocks were done to verify that the closer a person travels to the speed of light, the more time has to slow down to compensate for the speed of light being a constant of about 300,000 km/s. The perihelion of Mercury proved more of Einstein's calculations are correct. Taylor and Hulse were the first to discover a binary pulsar, and it agreed with Einstein's predictions. All of these experiments are proof about Einstein's validity. Even after all these years, with tons of scientists trying to disprove Einstein's theories, the theories are still intact, with little doubt to them.

Works Cited "About AtomicClocks.us - Atomic Clocks." __Atomic Clocks - Radio Controlled Clocks__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://www.atomicclocks.us/about.htm>. (This gave the picture of the atomic clock.)

"The advance of the perihelion of Mercury." __Cornell Astronomy__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/merc_adv.htm>. (This website gave the picture about the perihelion of Mercury. It is posted by Cornell University, which is a very credible source.)

"Albert Einstein." __Albert Einstein in Prague__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://utf.mff.cuni.cz/Relativity/Einstein.htm>. (This source provided the third picture at the top of this page.)

"Albert Einstein history of astrology." __astrology reading in fine art personalized books-astrology books__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://www.myastrologybook.com/Albert-Einstein-history-of-astrology.htm>. (This provided the Albert Einstein picture at the top of the page.)

Barry, Patrick. "NASA - The Equivalence Principle." __NASA - Science@NASA__. 18 May 2007. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/18may_equivalenceprinciple.htm>. (This is a credible source, since it is such a trustworthy, well-known company. It provided a good definition of the equivalence principle for the general theory of relativity.)

Bornstein, Lawrence. "Relativity - MSN Encarta." __MSN Encarta : Online Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Atlas, and Homework__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558302_2/Relativity.html>. (This was contributed on MSN by a physics professor at New York University. It has information on the perihelion of Mercury, which is evidence of how Einstein's theories are correct.)

"General Relativity - History, Basic Concepts Of The Theory, Consequences Of General Relativity - General relativity, Experimental verification." __Science Encyclopedia__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://science.jrank.org/pages/5790/Relativity-General.html>. (This comes from a science encyclopedia. It gives information on Taylor and Hulse, two Nobel Prize winners for discovering the first binary pulsar. The website seems to be very reliable.)

"NOVA | Einstein's Big Idea | Time Traveler | PBS." __PBS__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/hotsciencetwin/>. (This source is affiliated with PBS, which is a credible source. It gives information about the theory of relativity, in general, and also discusses the experiment done with the atomic clocks discussed on this page.)

"Physics 1993." __Nobelprize.org__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1993/>. (This website has the pictures of Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse, who are two Nobel Prize winners.)

__Procession of the Perihelion of Mercury__. Department of Physics and Astronomy. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://www.physics.ucr.edu/>. (This gives information on how much the perihelion advances every century. It is from the Department of Physics and Astronomy from the University of California.)

"TeacherTube - Section 5_3." __TeacherTube - Teach the World | Teacher Videos | Lesson Plan Videos | Student Video Lessons | Online Teacher Made Videos | TeacherTube.com__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=a125259e5aa4869df15d>. (This is a video made about Einstein's general and special theories of relativity. It is narrated, and very precise about the information. It is posted on TeacherTube, so anyone could technically post anything, but its information has matched up with a lot of other information found on the internet.)

"Theory: Special Relativity (SLAC VVC)." __SLAC Public Website Server__. 27 Jan. 2009 <http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/theory/relativity.html>. (This was a very credible resource. It is put out by Stanford University, through the US Department of Energy. It gave solid information explaining the two postulates that Einstein came up with that make up his special theory of relativity.)

"Zdenka's web pages." __Physics@Sydney - The University of Sydney__. 27 Jan. 2009 <[|http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~kuncic/personal.htm]>. (This website provided the E=MCsquared picture at the top of the page.)