How Weird Is Special Relativity? The nice thing about the legal profession is that we get to learn a little about a lot of things. So, with that in mind, from time-to-time, we will post on some topics that have very little (if anything) to do with the practice of law; but are interesting, fascinating and just plain cool. In 1905, a young patent clerk in Germany had a crazy thought – he asked himself: If I chase after a beam of light while also traveling at the speed of light, shouldnt the light appear stationary? Consider this: When we are driving on the highway next to a car traveling the same speed, when we look at that other car (and only the other car), it appears stationary. This is because the relative motion of the cars is the same. So, shouldn’t the light beam appear to be stationary when chasing after it at the speed of light? Stated slightly differently, if you are traveling in a car at 50 mph and throw a baseball forward at 10 mph, how fast is the ball going? From YOUR perspective, it is going 10 mph, from the bystander on the side of the road, it is going 60 mph. Now, if you are in a car traveling at 50,000 mph and turn on your head lights, how fast is the light beam going? Light moves at just under 300,000 meters/second. Here is the weird thing, it is not 300,000 from your perspective and 350,000 from the bystanders perspective. Rather, scientist have know for many years that the speed of light was fixed (Thank you Maxwell & Faraday!). When nearly every scientist was trying to explain how light could appear stationary in the ether of space, Albert Einstein concluded something very simple, but something that eluded scientists until that time. Einstein started with principles in science and accepted them as true: (1) The speed of light is fixed regardless of the observer; and (2) The rules of physics do not change for objects moving relative to one another. So, unlike two cars moving at the same speed, when a person moving at light speed observes another light beam, that other light beam still appears to move at the speed of light. The speed of light cannot be increased with a push. The speed of light is ALWAYS the speed of light - regardless of the observer. This ultimately led young Einstein to another startling conclusion: Objects move not only through space, but also through time. For example, when an object goes from the corner of 1st & Main to the corner of 2nd & Main, it moves through space. When that same object remains at 1st & Main at noon and stays at that exact spot until 1:00, it moves through time. Of course, an object can (and almost always) does both at the same time. What was so startling about Einstein’s conclusion was that it unified space and time into one thing: Space-Time. Until then, space and time were thought of as two separate and distinct things. Because the speed of light is fastest anything can move, special relativity provides that the faster an object moves through space, the slower it moves through time (relative to other observers). Speed, Distance and Time are tightly related to each other. When one of those (speed) is fixed, such as the speed of light, it has profound implications. If Neil Armstrong takes off in a space ship at 95% the speed of light on a 10 year round trip, when Neil returns to earth, about 32 years will have passed on earth. The time difference becomes far more exaggerated as Neil more closely approaches the speed of light. Note: Neil (because he and his spaceship have mass) can never reach 100% the speed of light because of another of Einstein’s famous equations: E=MC2. We never notice the effects of special relatively (like time dilation) because we never move anywhere fast enough to notice. As strange as special relativity sounds, it has been proven to be true through thousands of experiments. Not a single experiment in over 100 years have proven it wrong. Most of us have GPS navigation in our cars. Navigation systems use satellites that move much faster than objects on earth and they also exist in the low gravity of space (something that also impacts time according the General Relativity). If our navigation systems did not adjust for the differences in how fast time moves on the satellites as compared to how fast time moves on the surface of the earth, our navigation systems would be horribly inaccurate (e.g On a trip from Chicago to Philly, you would end up in mid-town NYC). So, how weird is special relativity - pretty weird and really cool! What is even more weird is Einsteins General Theory of Relativity, which explains gravity. But, that is for another day (or two). If you or someone you love have serious questions about special relativity, DON’T CALL US - This post is just for fun. Rather, contact the theoretical physics department at Stanford or the University of Chicago. But if you or someone you love have been injured because of the carelessness of another, contact Westland Kramer & Bennett, P.C. partner Jack A. Kramer for a free consultation (219-440-7550) or by email at: jkramer@wkb-law You can also obtain additional information from our educational YouTube videos. Simply open YouTube and search for “WKBLAW” or “Westland Kramer & Bennett, P.C.” Jack A. Kramer is an AV Peer Rated attorney. AV rating is the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell for both ethical standards and legal ability. Jack Kramer is also a member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, as well as being in the Top 100 (Litigation) of the American Society of Legal Advocates. Jack Kramer also has a 10.0 Avvo rating. Westland Kramer & Bennett, P.C., 141 West Lincoln Highway, Schererville, Indiana 46375.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:00:01 +0000
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