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 **The Theory of Relativity: Albert Einstein**  

 ** // If the Theory of Relativity proves to be invalid in the future, the way we view gravity and the universe will be completely altered, along with our basic understanding of physics. // ** BACKGROUND The Theory of Relativity was created by German-born American physicist Albert Einstein. This theory consists of two prongs--special relativity, which was published in 1905; and general relativity, released in 1915. These theories explain the behavior of matter, energy, and time in space (Curious About Astronomy?). They basically explain why two people can see different things at the same time. For example, the clock. One person can see it ticking at rate A, while the other person can observe the same exact clock ticking at rate B. The logic behind this is that matter can turn into energy and vice versa, which alters people's perspectives. Einstein based his findings off of the works of Galileo and Newton (Curious About Astronomy?).        

RELATIVITY AND PHYSICS: If the Theory of Relativity proved to be invalid in the future, our understanding of physics would be greatly altered. First off, this means that many of the works which were based off of the Theory of Relativity will also be wrong, along with the theories that it was based off of. Starting in a general sense, our entire physics curriculum at Hershey High School would be completely blown out the window. Almost each and every one of the equations we use are derived from the Theory of Relativity and works which in one way or another relate to it (Relativity). For example, Einstein based his this theory off of Galilean relativity and Newton's first law of Gravity, which happens to be the main topic in one of our chapters. Equations normally relate back to each other, meaning that you have to use multiple ones to get just one answer. If one of the equations is wrong, than all of the data collected will be off. Imagine how this could effect our universe. We could be sending astronauts into space with completely false data, so if something malfunctions, we will not know how to fix it. When traveling at the speed of light, everything has to be perfectly accurate. With the technology we have today, we have not gotten to the point where we have to be completely exact (Relativity). When we do in the future, basing it off of the theory of relativity along with its closely related equations has the potential to end in disaster. 

RELATIVITY AND GRAVITY: If we disprove the Theory of Relativity, our society would have to come up with a whole new way to define gravity. The view that we have of it today would be completely skewed without Einstein's theory of relativity. Whenever we drop two uneven bricks from the same spot, they always happen to hit the ground at the same time (Curious about Astronomy?). This is due to gravity. It takes into account the weight that is falling, and automatically adjusts it due to gravity so that all objects will fall at the same rate. According to the Theory of Relativity, this is because gravity is not a force, but rather a curvature of space and time caused by the presence of a near by massive object (which in our case is the earth). It is common to think that everything is attracted to this massive object, but really, it just appears that way (Curious about Astronomy?). When something passes by the massive object, it looks like it is falling towards it, when it is actually just continuing along its straight path. The reason it looks like the object is falling to the earth is because gravity's warping of the underlying space time continuum (Curious about Astronomy?). This comes from the Theory of Relativity in stating that we live in a 4D world. If this theory proved to be false, than how would we explain the attraction we have towards the earth? Why is it that falling objects accelerate at 9.8 m/s here but faster on the moon? Why do humans weigh more on the earth than anywhere else? How could we explain how the earth circles around the sun, or for that matter, how could we even prove that we do circle around the sun? Without the Theory of Relativity justifying all of these answers, our world would be chaos. There would be so many phenomenas that people would not even understand the most basic of information. If the Theory of Relativity proves to be inaccurate in the future, our world is going to have a lot of explaining to do.   <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia, serif; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: center;">

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RELATIVITY AND THE UNIVESE: Our universe would be viewed much differently without the Theory of Relativity. According to Einstein's General Relativity, the most compact objects imaginable have such strong gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape their grip (Dine). What is such an object, one may ask? This is simple--it is the very basis off of which we account our understanding of the universe--it is a black hole. The reason they are black is because there is virtually nothing in them. The light has been sucked out, along with everything else. It is literally a "black hole" filled with nothing inside (Dine). It is what we accredit disappearing stars and orbitals to. If we did not have the Theory of Relativity, how could we describe these black holes? Also, how could we explain the randomly disappearing stars? Right now, we view the universe as a mass acreage of never ending space with black holes. If we did not believe in black holes, than our vision of the universe would be completely distorted. We would have no explanation as to where the disappearing objects in space go (Dine). We also would not have the fear of the black hole, which frankly, takes away half the thrill of space travel.

CONCLUSION: If the Theory of Relativity is someday in the future found to be invalid, our world will be facing so major issues. First off, our entire physics curriculum would have to be altered, along with the basic understanding of physics to the common people in general. All of the principles which we base our data off of would prove to be inaccurate. Also, we would view the idea of gravity in a completely new and undiscovered way. Right now, we base the understanding of gravity off of the Theory of Relativity. Without it, our world would cease to make sense, and scientists would be busy for many years to come, trying to figure out the new explanation to gravity. Issues such as the black hole and time dilation are also derived directly from this theory. Without it, we would view our universe in a much more complex, strange, and unhappy manor. Let's just hope that for our world's sake, the Theory of Relativity is not proven to be inaccurate over the course of the next few years to come. Our country already has enough to worry about right now.

Picture Works Cited: <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">__Bye Bye Blackboards__. 2005. Muesum of the Institution of Science. 27 Jan. 2009 < <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/blackboard/copyright.htm <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">>. This was a good site because it had the picture I needed, and it was a galary, so the pictures were very clear and appealing.

Einstein — nutty professor or one cool dude? - A Century of Einstein- msnbc.com." __Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News - msnbc.com- msnbc.com__. 27 Jan. 2009 < <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7318759/ <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">>. This was a good site because it provided me with a picture I needed. It does not matter what site the picture comes from, just as long as you have it. This site provided me with exactly what I needed.

__Science and Health__. 2002. Holt Physics. 27 Jan. 2009 < <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://go.hrw.com/hrw_catalog/images/physic02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://go.hrw.com/hrw.nd/hrw_catalog/p2Program%3FcaId%3D4%26paId%3D52%26pId%3D30769&usg=__KIwcq_p0iJSqNAZG-EmcbEu-RKg=&h=170&w=130&sz=6&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=RgmTHSQ2atea9M:&tbnh=99&tbnw=76&prev=/images%3Fq%3DHolt%2Bphysics%2Bbook%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. I needed a picture of our current text book, so I went to the Holt Physics site, which is obviously reliable since our school uses it.

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">__Woah!__ 2000. AW Bruna. 27 Jan. 2009 < <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.exitmundi.nl/black-hole-lab2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.exitmundi.nl/blackholes_lab.htm&usg=__M2wRM92wSOjBZ7c4hQV-T2aHXV4=&h=405&w=600&sz=113&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=lbPxhuY27lFtUM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblack%2Bhole%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">>. This was a good site becuase it provided a picture of a black hole, which was needed in my wikispace.

Text Works Cited: <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Curious About Astronomy?" __Cornell.edu__. 21 March 2008. 27 Jan 2009 < <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/relativity.php <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">>. This source can be found as a website on the Internet. The purpose of the site is to explain the Theory of Relativity, along with a breif story of how Einstein came about discovering the theory. The target audience is for students who want to gain a greater understanding of the Theory of Relativity. The site is mainly about General Relativity and different scientists who helped Einstein figure it out. The usefulness of this site compared to others is high because it gives many links to other sites which also revolve around the Theory of Relativity. The site was last updated on March 28th, 2008, so it is very credible and up to date. Also, it is published by Cornell University, which is a very highly respected school, so I know that the information can be trusted.

Dine, Michael. "Relativity." World Book Online Reference Center. 2004. World Book, Inc. 27 Jan 2009 http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar464240. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This internet source's purpose is to explain and give examples of applications of the Theory of Relativity. A basic understanding must be known before looking at this site becaues there is much more detail. Since the page is governed by NASA, there are current updates everytime they conduct new experiments or discover new findings. This is a very good site compared to others because there are a lot of visuals, and NASA is a very reliable source. The author of this page has a Ph.D. and is the Professor of Physics at the University of California in Santa Cruz, so it is very safe to say that this is a credible source.

__Relativity__. 2008. NASA. 27 Jan. 2009 < <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/relativity_worldbook.html <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">>. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This internet source is highly useful. Its main purpose is to explain the Theory of Relativity by means of black holes and explaining how the Theory of Relativity was derived. It not only talks about Einstein, but also the many scientists whose findings were a base for his theory. The information is not terribly hard to understand, so someone who knows nothing about the theory would be able to read this page without problems. This site also comes from NASA and is updated on a regular basis so it is safe to say that it is credible and reliable.