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8WaysYouCanSeeEinstein'sTheoryofRelativityinRealLife

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8WaysYouCanSeeEinstein'sTheoryofRelativityin
Life
byJesseEmspak,LiveScienceContributor|November26,201411:55amET
12.8K 452 2195 1973

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Relativityisoneofthemostfamousscientifictheoriesofthe20thcentu
doesitexplainthethingsweseeinourdailylives?

FormulatedbyAlbertEinsteinin1905,thetheoryofrelativityistheno
ofphysicsarethesameeverywhere.Thetheoryexplainsthebehavioro
andtime,anditcanbeusedtopredicteverythingfromtheexistenceof
lightbendingduetogravity,tothebehavioroftheplanetMercuryinit
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Thetheoryisdeceptivelysimple.First,thereisno"absolute"frameofr
timeyoumeasureanobject'svelocity,oritsmomentum,orhowitexpe
alwaysinrelationtosomethingelse.Second,thespeedoflightisthesa
whomeasuresitorhowfastthepersonmeasuringitisgoing.Third,no
fasterthanlight.[TwistedPhysics:7MindBlowingFindings]

TheimplicationsofEinstein'smostfamoustheoryareprofound.Ifthe
alwaysthesame,itmeansthatanastronautgoingveryfastrelativetoth
measurethesecondstickingbyslowerthananEarthboundobserverwi
essentiallyslowsdownfortheastronaut,aphenomenoncalledtimedila

Credit:agsandrew|Shutterstock.com
Viewfullsizeimage

Anyobjectinabiggravityfieldisaccelerating,soitwillalsoexperienc
Meanwhile,theastronaut'sspaceshipwillexperiencelengthcontraction
thatifyoutookapictureofthespacecraftasitflewby,itwouldlooka
"squished"inthedirectionofmotion.Totheastronautonboard,howev
seemnormal.Inaddition,themassofthespaceshipwouldappeartoin

pointofviewofpeopleonEarth.

Butyoudon'tnecessarilyneedaspaceshipzoomingatnearthespeedoflighttoseerelativisticeffects.Infact,there
instancesofrelativitythatwecanseeinourdailylives,andeventechnologiesweusetodaythatdemonstratethatE
Herearesomewaysweseerelativityinaction.
GPSSatellite
Credit:Mechanik|Shutterstock.comViewfullsizeimage

1.GlobalPositioningSystem

Inorderforyourcar'sGPSnavigationtofunctionasaccuratelyasitdoes,satelliteshavetotakerelativisticeffects
isbecauseeventhoughsatellitesaren'tmovingatanythingclosetothespeedoflight,theyarestillgoingprettyfast
arealsosendingsignalstogroundstationsonEarth.Thesestations(andtheGPSunitinyourcar)areallexperienci
accelerationsduetogravitythanthesatellitesinorbit.

Togetthatpinpointaccuracy,thesatellitesuseclocksthatareaccuratetoafewbillionthsofasecond(nanoseconds
satelliteis12,600miles(20,300kilometers)aboveEarthandmovesatabout6,000milesperhour(10,000km/h),th
relativistictimedilationthattacksonabout4microsecondseachday.Addintheeffectsofgravityandthefigurego
microseconds.That's7,000nanoseconds.

Thedifferenceisveryreal:ifnorelativisticeffectswereaccountedfor,aGPSunitthattellsyouit'sahalfmile(0.8
gasstationwouldbe5miles(8km)offafteronlyoneday.[Top10InventionsthatChangedtheWorld]
2.Electromagnets

Magnetismisarelativisticeffect,andifyouuseelectricityyoucanthankrelativityforthefactthatgeneratorswork
ElectricalTransmissionTowers

Credit:long8614|
Shutterstock.com
Viewfullsizeimage

Ifyoutakealoopofwireandmoveitthroughamagneticfield,yougenerateanelectriccurrent.Thechargedpartic
areaffectedbythechangingmagneticfield,whichforcessomeofthemtomoveandcreatesthecurrent.

Butnow,picturethewireatrestandimaginethemagnetismoving.Inthiscase,thechargedparticlesinthewire(t
protons)aren'tmovinganymore,sothemagneticfieldshouldn'tbeaffectingthem.Butitdoes,andacurrentstillflo
thatthereisnoprivilegedframeofreference.

ThomasMoore,aprofessorofphysicsatPomonaCollegeinClaremont,California,usestheprincipleofrelativityt
whyFaraday'sLaw,whichstatesthatachangingmagneticfieldcreatesanelectriccurrent,istrue.

"Sincethisisthecoreprinciplebehindtransformersandelectricgenerators,anyonewhouseselectricityisexperien
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8WaysYouCanSeeEinstein'sTheoryofRelativityinRealLife

ofrelativity,"Mooresaid.

Electromagnetsworkviarelativityaswell.Whenadirectcurrent(DC)ofelectricchargeflowsthroughawire,elec
throughthematerial.Ordinarilythewirewouldseemelectricallyneutral,withnonetpositiveornegativecharge.T
consequenceofhavingaboutthesamenumberofprotons(positivecharges)andelectrons(negativecharges).But,
wirenexttoitwithaDCcurrent,thewiresattractorrepeleachother,dependingonwhichdirectionthecurrentism
FactsAboutMagnets]

Assumingthecurrentsaremovinginthesamedirection,theelectronsinthefirstwireseetheelectronsinthesecon
motionless.(Thisassumesthecurrentsareaboutthesamestrength).Meanwhile,fromtheelectrons'perspective,th
wireslookliketheyaremoving.Becauseoftherelativisticlengthcontraction,theyappeartobemorecloselyspace
positivechargeperlengthofwirethannegativecharge.Sincelikechargesrepel,thetwowiresalsorepel.

Currentsintheoppositedirectionsresultinattraction,becausefromthefirstwire'spointofview,theelectrons
morecrowdedtogether,creatinganetnegativecharge.Meanwhile,theprotonsinthefirstwirearecreatinganetpo
andoppositechargesattract.
GoldNuggets
Credit:optimarc|Shutterstock.comViewfullsizeimage

3.Gold'sYellowColor

Mostmetalsareshinybecausetheelectronsintheatomsjumpfromdifferentenergylevels,or"orbitals."Somepho
metalgetabsorbedandreemitted,thoughatalongerwavelength.Mostvisiblelight,though,justgetsreflected.

Goldisaheavyatom,sotheinnerelectronsaremovingfastenoughthattherelativisticmassincreaseissignificant
lengthcontraction.Asaresult,theelectronsarespinningaroundthenucleusinshorterpaths,withmoremomentum
innerorbitalscarryenergythatisclosertotheenergyofouterelectrons,andthewavelengthsthatgetabsorbedand
longer.[SinisterSparkleGallery:13Mysterious&CursedGemstones]

Longerwavelengthsoflightmeanthatsomeofthevisiblelightthatwouldusuallyjustbereflectedgetsabsorbed,a
theblueendofthespectrum.Whitelightisamixofallthecolorsoftherainbow,butingold'scase,whenlightgets
emittedthewavelengthsareusuallylonger.Thatmeansthemixoflightwavesweseetendstohavelessblueandv
makesgoldappearyellowishincolorsinceyellow,orangeandredlightisalongerwavelengththanblue.
4.GoldDoesn'tCorrodeEasily

Therelativisticeffectongold'selectronsisalsoonereasonthatthemetaldoesn'tcorrodeorreactwithanythingels

Goldhasonlyoneelectroninitsoutershell,butitstillisnotasreactiveascalciumorlithium.Instead,theelectron
"heavier"thantheyshouldbe,areallheldclosertotheatomicnucleus.Thismeansthattheoutermostelectronisn't
placewhereitcanreactwithanythingatallit'sjustaslikelytobeamongitsfellowelectronsthatareclosetothe
LiquidMercury
Credit:MarcelClemens|Shutterstock.comViewfullsizeimage

5.MercuryIsaLiquid

Similartogold,mercuryisalsoaheavyatom,withelectronsheldclosetothenucleusbecauseoftheirspeedandco
increase.Withmercury,thebondsbetweenitsatomsareweak,somercurymeltsatlowertemperaturesandistypic
whenweseeit.
OldTVSet

Credit:AndriiMalysh|
Shutterstock.com
Viewfullsizeimage

6.YourOldTV
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Justafewyearsagomosttelevisionsandmonitorshadcathoderaytubescreens.Acathoderaytubeworksbyfirin
phosphorsurfacewithabigmagnet.Eachelectronmakesalightedpixelwhenithitsthebackofthescreen.Theele
tomakethepicturemoveatupto30percentthespeedoflight.Relativisticeffectsarenoticeable,andwhenmanufa
themagnets,theyhadtotakethoseeffectsintoaccount.
7.Light

IfIsaacNewtonhadbeenrightinassumingthatthereisanabsoluterestframe,wewouldhavetocomeupwithad
explanationforlight,becauseitwouldn'thappenatall.

"Notonlywouldmagnetismnotexistbutlightwouldalsonotexist,becauserelativityrequiresthatchangesinane
fieldmoveatafinitespeedinsteadofinstantaneously,"Moore,ofPomonaCollege,said."Ifrelativitydidnotenfor
requirementchangesinelectricfieldswouldbecommunicatedinstantaneouslyinsteadofthroughelectromag
bothmagnetismandlightwouldbeunnecessary."

SupernovaremnantW498.Thisviewcombinesinfraredimagesfromtheground(red,green)with
XraydatafromNASA'sChandraXRayObservatory(blue).
Credit:Caltech/SSC/J.RhoandT.JarrettandNASA/CXC/SSC/J.Keohaneetal.Viewfullsizeimage

8.NuclearPlantsandSupernovas

Relativityisonereasonthatmassandenergycanbeconvertedintoeachother,whichishownuclearpowerplantsw
thesunshines.Anotherimportanteffectisinsupernovaexplosions,whichsignalthedeathofmassivestars.

"[Supernovas]existbecauserelativisticeffectsovercomequantumeffectsinthecoreofasufficientlymassivestar,
suddenlycollapseunderitsownweightuntilitbecomesamuchsmallerandharderneutronstar,"Mooresaid.

Inasupernova,theouterlayersofastarcollapsedownontothecore,andcreateagiganticexplosionthat,amongo
createselementsheavierthaniron.Infact,nearlyalltheheavyelementswearefamiliarwitharemadeinsupernov

"Wearemadeofstuffcreatedinanddispersedby[supernovas],"Mooresaid."Ifrelativitydidnotexist,eventhem
wouldendtheirlivesaswhitedwarfs,neverexploding,andwewouldnotbearoundtothinkaboutit."
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JesseEmspak

JesseEmspakisacontributingwriterforLiveScience,Space.comandTomsGuide.Hefocusesonphysics,human
generalscience.JessehasaMasterofArtsfromtheUniversityofCalifornia,BerkeleySchoolofJournalism,anda
fromtheUniversityofRochester.Jessespentyearscoveringfinanceandcuthisteethatlocalnewspapers,working
policebeats.JesselikestostayactiveandholdsathirddegreeblackbeltinKarate,whichjustmeanshenowknow
hastolearn.
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