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Isaac Newton determined the laws of
gravity around 1680. Albert Einstein reformulated the
laws to fit his General Theory of Relativity. He said
gravity was similar to acceleration and that is it
caused by a curvature of space. Recent theories about
gravity state that it has wavelength and is a particle.
Questions you may have include:
-
How is gravity similar to acceleration?
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What causes curvature in space?
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How can gravity be a wave and a
particle?
Physicist Albert Einstein examined
gravity in his study of the Theory of Relativity. He
noticed that if you are in an elevator that was going
up, you felt heavier due to the acceleration of the
elevator's motion.
Einstein concluded that since the force
from acceleration had the same effect as the force
caused by gravity, there must be some mathematical
relationship between the two. In fact, he said that
gravity was actually caused by acceleration.
That idea is not too clear, since when
the elevator is accelerating upward, it is directly
pushing on you. On the other hand, gravity is a force
that acts at a distance through some force field or
perhaps unknown means. Perhaps gravity is similar to
acceleration, but not caused but it.
Later Einstein postulated that the
presence of matter distorts the space around it.
This can be explained by picturing space
as a grid of lines. Without matter, space would be a
perfect grid of parallel lines. An object would move in
a straight line through space.
The presence of another mass of matter
would distort the lines, drawing some toward it. Thus a
moving object would no longer travel in a straight line.
Instead, it would curve toward the other object,
appearing to be attracted to it.
This is a pretty abstract explanation,
but Einstein demonstrated it with highly complex
mathematical equations. Many scientists accept this
concept of the curvature of space.
Recently, scientists predicted that a
gravitational field would exhibit wavelengths, similar
to electromagnetic waves. Using highly sensitive
instruments, experiments were made to verify that
gravity is indeed a waveform of some sort.
To follow the wave-particle duality in
Quantum Physics, it was also predicted that gravity
consists of particles called gravitons. This is similar
to the theory that light is not only a waveform, but
also consists of particles called photons. Electrons are
also viewed as both particles and waves.
Einstein's laws of gravity fit his
General Theory of Relativity. He said gravity was
similar to acceleration and is caused by a curvature of
space. Recent theories about gravity state that it has
wavelength and is a particle |
