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Sobi
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I can not understand what exactly this principle says.while reading a book about it ,it was written that einstein abolished gravity by saying the lift is free falling can some explain clearly what does that mean?
Sobi said:I can not understand what exactly this principle says.while reading a book about it ,it was written that einstein abolished gravity by saying the lift is free falling can some explain clearly what does that mean?
A lab in empty space would be a lab in free fall.Smattering said:It means that (apart from tidal forces) experiments that you perform in a free falling lift will have the same results as experiments that you perform in a lab in empty space.
Chalnoth said:A lab in empty space would be a lab in free fall.
Yes, it had. This realization is based upon Newtonian gravity. Newtonian gravity is an infinite-range force, which means that a lab in orbit still experiences gravity. People in that lab only feel weightless because the lab is in free fall.Smattering said:Yes, but as far as I know this view had not been established when Einstein began working in GR.
Chalnoth said:Yes, it had. This realization is based upon Newtonian gravity. Newtonian gravity is an infinite-range force, which means that a lab in orbit still experiences gravity. People in that lab only feel weightless because the lab is in free fall.
Einstein's philosophical contribution here was to state that this equivalence between acceleration and gravity is a real thing, not just a trick of the math.
The Einstein equivalence principle is a fundamental concept in physics that states that the effects of gravity are indistinguishable from the effects of acceleration. In other words, an observer in a uniform gravitational field cannot distinguish between being at rest in that field and being in an accelerating reference frame.
Einstein developed the equivalence principle as a key component of his theory of general relativity. He was inspired by the observation that objects in free-fall experience weightlessness, which is similar to the experience of objects in a uniform gravitational field. He also drew on the principle of equivalence proposed by Galileo, which states that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial reference frames.
The equivalence principle is important because it provides a deeper understanding of the nature of gravity and its relationship to other fundamental forces. It also serves as the basis for many tests and predictions of general relativity, which has been confirmed by numerous experiments and observations.
The equivalence principle is closely related to the concept of space-time curvature in general relativity. According to the theory, the presence of mass or energy causes space-time to curve, which in turn affects the motion of objects in that space-time. The equivalence principle implies that this curvature can also be interpreted as the effects of a gravitational field.
While the Einstein equivalence principle holds true in most cases, there are some exceptions. For example, it does not apply to highly localized gravitational fields, such as those near black holes, where the effects of gravity can be significantly different from those of acceleration. Additionally, in quantum mechanics, it has been shown that there are subtle differences between the effects of gravity and acceleration on particles at a microscopic level.