differencebbetween einstein general theory and theory of relativity
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Einstein in his theory of Special Relativity came up with the idea that space and time are not two independent things. This is what is special about this theory.
Special relativity basically says that all laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames.
The law of gravitation as given by Isaac Newton didn't quite fit into this theory suggested by Einstein. After a lot of thought, Einstein came up with another theory, in 1915, called the General Theory of Relativity.
In this theory, Einstein says that the space-time he described in Special Theory of Relativity, which he then considered to be flat, is not flat, but curved. By curved space-time, all he meant was that the Euclidean geometry fails on this surface. It's very tough (almost impossible) for us to imagine the curved 4 dimensional space-time as we are mere 3-Dimensional objects.
I won't go into the details of the curvature of space-time here. Instead I will try and explain this difference using an analogy.
Think of the space-time of special relativity to be a graph paper. You can draw triangles, straight lines, circles, on it. Now, consider the space-time of general relativity to be a football. You can still draw triangles and circles on it, but straight lines won't be straight anymore. Also, because you can't draw straight lines on this surface, the triangle you make won't be euclidean. (On a football, the sum of the angles of a triangle would sum up to be more than 180 degrees)
(You clearly can't draw straight lines on such a surface)
Now, if you try and paste the entire graph sheet on this football,you'll not be able to do so. Try it for yourself. But, you certainly will be able to paste small pieces of this graph sheet completely on the football. This is what the difference is. Special Relativity is that small piece of graph sheet that fits on the football.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that, Special Relativity is true in the local inertial frames in the curved space-time of General Relativity.
Special relativity basically says that all laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames.
The law of gravitation as given by Isaac Newton didn't quite fit into this theory suggested by Einstein. After a lot of thought, Einstein came up with another theory, in 1915, called the General Theory of Relativity.
In this theory, Einstein says that the space-time he described in Special Theory of Relativity, which he then considered to be flat, is not flat, but curved. By curved space-time, all he meant was that the Euclidean geometry fails on this surface. It's very tough (almost impossible) for us to imagine the curved 4 dimensional space-time as we are mere 3-Dimensional objects.
I won't go into the details of the curvature of space-time here. Instead I will try and explain this difference using an analogy.
Think of the space-time of special relativity to be a graph paper. You can draw triangles, straight lines, circles, on it. Now, consider the space-time of general relativity to be a football. You can still draw triangles and circles on it, but straight lines won't be straight anymore. Also, because you can't draw straight lines on this surface, the triangle you make won't be euclidean. (On a football, the sum of the angles of a triangle would sum up to be more than 180 degrees)
(You clearly can't draw straight lines on such a surface)
Now, if you try and paste the entire graph sheet on this football,you'll not be able to do so. Try it for yourself. But, you certainly will be able to paste small pieces of this graph sheet completely on the football. This is what the difference is. Special Relativity is that small piece of graph sheet that fits on the football.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that, Special Relativity is true in the local inertial frames in the curved space-time of General Relativity.
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