In 1905, Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity was proposed. The reason that it is so "special" is because it was part of the more complex and extensive Theory of General Relativity, which was published in 1915. His theory reshaped the world of physics when it contradicted all previous laws of motion erected by Galileo and Newton. By mathematically manipulating these previous laws of motion, physicists in the nineteenth century were able to explain such phenomena as the flow of the ocean, the orbits of planets around the sun, the fall of rocks, and the random behavior of molecules in gases. At first, Einstein faced great opposition when he came up with his radical new theory because the previous laws of motion proposed by Galileo and expanded upon by Newton had remained valid for over two hundred years. However, it wouldn't be long before the "cement" in the foundation of Newtonian and Galilean physics would begin to crumble.

Galileo had determined in 1608 that merely addition and subtraction could calculate relative speeds. Suppose that an observer stands on the side of the highway, and they watch two cars approach each other at 30 and 40 miles per hour. If they were to as

Einstein began writing his paper on Special Relativity by thinking what his two postulates implicated about motion. He knew that motion is described by using acceleration and speed. Speed is an example of how much distance is covered per unit time; therefore, in order to obtain speed, one needs distance and time. The ability to quantify motion with speed and time is rooted in the measurement of space and time, which Theory of Special Relativity in intimately connected with.

If Newtonian physics is so flawed, then why is it still used today? The answer is very simple. When traveling at speeds that are far from the speed of light i.e. speeds typical of human experience, effects such as time dilation and length contraction are so minute, it's not practical to use Einstein's more complex equations of Special Relativity in place of Newton's for these motions. The fastest a human being has ever gone in a spacecraft in space is nowhere remotely near the awesome speed of light. Perhaps in the future, when spacecraft capable of traveling just under speed of light is developed, will we encounter this phenomenon in a substantial quantity.

Simultaneity, time intervals, and length must all be relative. Two events that are observed to be simultaneous in one reference frame will not be simultaneous in any other reference frame that is moving with respect to the first frame.

The results of Einstein's postulates are described in terms of three effects, called the relativity of simultaneity, time dilation, and length contraction. Although these effects are all related, they are easiest to construe individually.

Simultaneity is also connected with two other space and time effects called time dilation and length contraction. Time dilation means that an observer will see a clock on a rocket recording time slower than if it were stationary. Suppose that the Earth and rocket clocks are synchronized as the rocket whizzes around Earth at 2:00 P.M. An hour later, when the clock on Earth reads 3:00 P.M.; the clock on the rocket would read less than 3:00 P.M., depending on how fast the rocket was traveling. The faster the rate of travel, the more time is slowed down. Also, if someone in the rocket were to read the Earth clock when the clock on the rocket read 3:00 P.M., they would see it read slower than 3:00 P.M. Thus, this slowing in time works both ways. Each observer in a different frame of reference traveling at a different speed will see the other's clock slowed down.

Michelson set up an extremely accurate test using a special device that he developed called an interferometer, which measured very small distances using the wave properties of light. After he performed a battery of tests, he was astonished to find that the speed of light is the same in all directions and seasons. This means that in the previous example, the speed of light would still be 299,792,458 meters per second, regardless o

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Approximate Word count = 1967
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)