I am an algebra 2 student so try to keep the complex math out of the explanation but still help me to understand the concept.
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Einstein published his two theories in the following order:
1.Special Theory
2. General Theory
From this you can tell that the General Theory of Relativity is a kind of extension of the Special Theory.
I'll try and keep it simple as you asked. Before the Special Theory of Relativity there was 'Classical Relativity'. This dealt with moving frames of reference, for example when you run on a moving train an observer on the train platform sees you running at the speed of the train plus the speed you are running on the train. This seems all very obvious, and it is. Except it has been discovered that things don't really work that way at all. Ok, so at slow speeds they do but as that train speeds up to very nearly the speed of light it turns out that you would never be able to run so as to break the light barrier. In fact nothing can travel as fast as light except light.
It all comes down to the *invariance* of the speed of light. This means that a single beam of light will always travel away from you (or towards you) at the same speed (3 million km/s) no matter how you move. That is at the core of Special Relativity and it sounds crazy but there are experiments which prove it.
As a result of this speed of light invariance both time and length change to compensate and keep the speed of light the same no matter how you move. The details can be a bit mind bending.
I'll just say that our platform observer sees the time on the *train* clock ticking more slowly than the *platform* clock. Also the platform observer sees the train as being a shorter length than it really is. Even stranger is that the observer on the train would see the *platform* clock ticking more slowly than the train clock and would also see the platform as being shorter than it really is.
1.Special Theory
2. General Theory
From this you can tell that the General Theory of Relativity is a kind of extension of the Special Theory.
I'll try and keep it simple as you asked. Before the Special Theory of Relativity there was 'Classical Relativity'. This dealt with moving frames of reference, for example when you run on a moving train an observer on the train platform sees you running at the speed of the train plus the speed you are running on the train. This seems all very obvious, and it is. Except it has been discovered that things don't really work that way at all. Ok, so at slow speeds they do but as that train speeds up to very nearly the speed of light it turns out that you would never be able to run so as to break the light barrier. In fact nothing can travel as fast as light except light.
It all comes down to the *invariance* of the speed of light. This means that a single beam of light will always travel away from you (or towards you) at the same speed (3 million km/s) no matter how you move. That is at the core of Special Relativity and it sounds crazy but there are experiments which prove it.
As a result of this speed of light invariance both time and length change to compensate and keep the speed of light the same no matter how you move. The details can be a bit mind bending.
I'll just say that our platform observer sees the time on the *train* clock ticking more slowly than the *platform* clock. Also the platform observer sees the train as being a shorter length than it really is. Even stranger is that the observer on the train would see the *platform* clock ticking more slowly than the train clock and would also see the platform as being shorter than it really is.
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