Relativity

Started by winkio, November 18, 2009, 08:26:08 pm

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winkio

So we finally finished mechanics in my class, and we are doing relativity for the last 3 weeks.  The universe has some seriously messed up shit.  Anybody else interested in this?

fugibo

Quote from: winkio on November 18, 2009, 08:26:08 pm
So we finally finished mechanics in my class, and we are doing relativity for the last 3 weeks.  The universe has some seriously messed up shit.  Anybody else interested in this?


Schrodinger's cat, dawg. Awesome sauce.

Of course, I'm going really slowly in my physics class. It's online, and I'm lazy as crap. I don't even properly understand springs and Hooke's law yet. Mainly because I've only spent around five minutes reading the Wikipedia article last night while I was half asleep.

winkio

QuoteSchrodinger's cat, dawg. Awesome sauce.


GET YO QUANTUM OUTTA HERE

I love how the fact that the speed of light is the same in all intertial reference frames just destroys all of classical physics XD.  And then from that, we get length contraction and time dilation.

fugibo

Quote from: winkio on November 18, 2009, 08:46:24 pm
QuoteSchrodinger's cat, dawg. Awesome sauce.


GET YO QUANTUM OUTTA HERE

I love how the fact that the speed of light is the same in all intertial reference frames just destroys all of classical physics XD.  And then from that, we get length contraction and time dilation.


Dawg, I just be playin' dice wid da universe! :V

legacyblade

^that's what D&D is for :P

I gotta say though, I LOVE relativity. Most of it makes a heck of a lot more sense than Newtonian physics to me (I have a really weird method of looking at the world physically, I think), and it's fun to think about :D

fugibo

Quote from: legacyblade on November 18, 2009, 09:29:24 pm
^that's what D&D is for :P

I gotta say though, I LOVE relativity. Most of it makes a heck of a lot more sense than Newtonian physics to me (I have a really weird method of looking at the world physically, I think), and it's fun to think about :D


I was making a nerd joke out of a reference to Einstein, who rejected Quantum physics because he believed that God did not "play dice with the universe."

The Schrodinger made a thought experiment about a zombie cat.

God, I love science.

Diokatsu

Schrodinger's Cat is a song in Pop'n Music D:

Can some one go through and give me the gist of what everyone is talking about *high school fysx*

fugibo

Quote from: Diokatsu on November 18, 2009, 10:51:11 pm
Schrodinger's Cat is a song in Pop'n Music D:

Can some one go through and give me the gist of what everyone is talking about *high school fysx*


Schrodinger's Cat

winkio

Einstein's theory of Relativity is built off of the fact that the speed of light is constant in all inertial frames.  That means that if you are standing still, the speed of light relative to you is 3 * 10^8 m/s.  And if you are moving at 2*10^8 m/s, the speed of light relative to you is still 3 * 10^8 m/s.  This has been proven true by experimentation, so then we have to come up with a theory to explain it.  It turns out that this with this new theory, not much changes until you move at 0.1c (c is the speed of light).  But as long as the speed of light is always constant, then all these other weird things happen.  Like when you observe something that is moving very fast relative to you, it gets shorter (length contraction).  And when you observe something that is moving very fast relative to you, its clock is slower (time dilation).  And then there's the doppler shift, which is where the frequency of perceived light is altered by the reference frame of the observer.  Basically,

legacyblade

@longfellow, -.- yes, I know about that. Then he responded "stop telling God what to do". I've read their works.

@winkio, aye, Relitivity is fascinating. It makes a heck of a lot more sense than quantum physics, I think. It only abandons absolutes, rather than abandoning many of the core concepts of cause and effect. Makes much more sense :P

winkio

QuoteIt only abandons absolutes, rather than abandoning many of the core concepts of cause and effect


explain.  I don't get what you mean...

legacyblade

The basic premise of quantum physics is that multiple states of reality can be true at the same time (everything is probability waves until we observe it. Think the Schrodinger's Cat experiment). This was one of the largest reasons Einstein refused to accept quantum physics.

winkio

Ah, you were comparing, I see.  For some reason, I thought you were saying something completely different. :^_^':

legacyblade

That happens a lot when I talk :P And yes, just comparing. I can understand the lack of absolutes (as found in relativity). But I can't get my head around the lack of true cause and effect and a single state of being. (the cat is alive or it is dead in my mind, it's not "a wave of possible outcomes waiting to be observed" it's a true/false value.)

Blizzard

You think relativity is messed up? Try string theory. #_#
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winkio

There is one large difference between relativity and string theory.  Mainly that relativity is accepted as true, while string theory is not.

Fantasist

Quote from: Blizzard on November 19, 2009, 03:57:18 am
You think relativity is messed up? Try string theory. #_#

Hahah, yeah!

Quote from: winkio on November 19, 2009, 08:08:10 am
There is one large difference between relativity and string theory.  Mainly that relativity is accepted as true, while string theory is not.

Not yet! >8U (I prefer my space stringy, not loopy.)

You know, I've been through 2 years of medium-level physics, chemistry and math. I'm done with being a science freak, but it's still nice. Brings back memories.
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Blizzard

Quote from: winkio on November 19, 2009, 08:08:10 am
There is one large difference between relativity and string theory.  Mainly that relativity is accepted as true, while string theory is not.


Of course. I just wanted to point out that string theory is even more messed up. But yeah, quantum theory is already quite messed up. "You're not supposed to understand it, you're just supposed to know that this is how it works.", that's what my professor said. xD
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Quote from: Barney StinsonWhen I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.

Diokatsu

Relativity sounds interesting and I think I got the explanation you gave winkio. Not that I expect to understand it's applications and what that entails, but I think I got however much you explained of it. But quantum physics seems kinda fishy if I'm understand what LB said....

legacyblade

Quantum phsyics is founded on how subatomic particles (electrons and the like) behave. Our current methods of observing them make it seem as if unless we're observing them, they behave like a wave of probobility. (if we observe them, they act differently) I wonder if it's just our limited means of observing them. It's really confusing to me