chronic12345

if i am not mistaken, the theory of relativity states that time seems to pass faster when you are having fun, and passes slower when you are bored or feeling unpleasant.
but, when you're high, you feel great, yet time passes by really slowly. (which is awesome )
could this disprove the theory of relativity?
maybe im wrong idk, just my thoughts

Vicki

No, it's just your perception of time.

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Tambourine Man

hmmm...the theory of relativity that I'm aware of has nothing to do with the influence of "fun" on time...

Lurkerboy (T)

BAM! Vicki slaps that theory onto it's ass.

Still, wouldn't it be sweet if it DID disprove said theory? Wonder what the government would reply with...?

chronic12345

yea, maybe i have it wrong, can someone explain the theory of relativity in laymans terms?

edit: and also what IS the theory that states that time passes by faster when you're having fun, if there is one?

Vicki

**I'm not sure how to say it in layman's terms because I'm not sure where you are going with this. So, I just posted the long drawn out version so everyone could see it.

Theory of relativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, refers specifically to two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, "relativity" can also refer to Galilean relativity.

The term "theory of relativity" was coined by Max Planck in 1908 to emphasize how special relativity (and later, general relativity) uses the principle of relativity.

Special Relativity

Special relativity is a theory of the structure of spacetime. It was introduced in Albert Einstein's 1905 paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Special relativity is based on two postulates which are contradictory in classical mechanics:

The laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion relative to one another (Galileo's principle of relativity)

The speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of their relative motion or of the motion of the source of the light.

The resultant theory has many surprising consequences. Some of these are:

Time dilation: Moving clocks are measured to tick more slowly than an observer's "stationary" clock.
Length contraction: Objects are measured to be shortened in the direction that they are moving with respect to the observer.

Relativity of simultaneity: two events that appear simultaneous to an observer A will not be simultaneous to an observer B if B is moving with respect to A.
Mass-energy equivalence: E = mc2, energy and mass are equivalent and transmutable.
The defining feature of special relativity is the replacement of the Galilean transformations of classical mechanics by the Lorentz transformations. (See Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism and introduction to special relativity).


General relativity

General relativity is a theory of gravitation developed by Einstein in the years 1907–1915. The development of general relativity began with the equivalence principle, under which the states of accelerated motion and being at rest in a gravitational field (for example when standing on the surface of the Earth) are physically identical. The upshot of this is that free fall is inertial motion: In other words an object in free fall is falling because that is how objects move when there is no force being exerted on them, instead of this being due to the force of gravity as is the case in classical mechanics.

This is incompatible with classical mechanics and special relativity because in those theories inertially moving objects cannot accelerate with respect to each other, but objects in free fall do so. To resolve this difficulty Einstein first proposed that spacetime is curved. In 1915, he devised the Einstein field equations which relate the curvature of spacetime with the mass, energy, and momentum within it.

Some of the consequences of general relativity are:

Time goes more slowly in higher gravitational fields. This is called gravitational time dilation. (Such as a black hole)

Orbits precess in a way unexpected in Newton's theory of gravity. (This has been observed in the orbit of Mercury and in binary pulsars).

Even rays of light (which have zero mass) bend in the presence of a gravitational field.
The Universe is expanding, and the far parts of it are moving away from us faster than the speed of light. This does not contradict the theory of special relativity, since it is space itself that is expanding.

Frame-dragging, in which a rotating mass "drags along" the space time around it.
Technically, general relativity is a metric theory of gravitation whose defining feature is its use of the Einstein field equations. The solutions of the field equations are metric tensors which define the topology of the spacetime and how objects move inertially.

Vicki

Please, no one take offense, he asked for layman terms.

Relativity for dummies | Education | The Guardian

Say Einstein, and most of us think a) cheeky oldster with wild white hair, sticking out his tongue and b) either E = mc2, or the theory of relativity. Possibly both. What was their importance? They were revolutionary. Why? Ah, there's the rub.

As part of the centenary celebrations of Einstein's "miraculous year" when, as a 26-year-old patent office clerk he came up with his special theory of relativity (which is different from the general theory of relativity, which came 10 years later, and was even more revolutionary - let's just say it folded gravity into an already heady mix, and leave it there), a prize of £15,000 is being offered to anyone who can explain the theory in layman's terms. So let's have a go.

First, it's not an entirely original concept: Galileo used a kind of relativity to explain why we're not all swept off the earth as it rotates. Imagine a moving ship, he said; within that ship, everything functions as though you're on dry land (or, if you're worried about wave motion, try a train). Einstein's observation was that the passage of time, which everyone had always simply assumed is constant and immutable, is not: it's the speed of light that is. "Now Galileo would start to get unhappy there," says Sir Roger Penrose, author of The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe, "because you'd think if you're moving along almost with the speed of light, the light should seem to be going more slowly. Why does it seem to be going at the same speed, no matter how fast you move? It seems like a paradox at first."

The theory of relativity was revolutionary because it showed how the speed at which time happens is mutable; that space and time are not discrete entities: time and space and motion (ie, movement through space) collapse into a fourth dimension, in which all act on each other. It is impossible to say "now" without saying "here" and "how fast".

Or, to put it another way, imagine you have a twin. You stay on earth, your twin goes into space on a fast rocket ship for 10 years; when they come back, they're a couple of years younger than you are. It even works with aeroplanes: circle the earth, flying low; when you return to your starting point, your watch will be slightly behind. "If you were actually moving at the speed of light (which you couldn't do, but suppose you could)," says Penrose, "your watch would stop altogether." It's a rather more expensive method of age-defiance than Crème de la Mer, but then again, it has the advantage of being a physical law of the universe.

chronic12345

wow, thanks for all that info, i actually read it all, understood like half of it lol

ha, seems like i was thinking of something completely different.
and im not even stoned right now lol

_Jay

EDIT: Removed fat stoner ramblings...

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gange_King88

ummmm, what? you're right about the word "relativity" meaning that things get compared, but thats not what theory is. The comparison used in relativity is generally some velocity divided by the speed of light.

in laymans terms, the theory of relativity would be this: "don't bother. Einstein's genius was not meant for the average person to fully understand. in fact, there are quotes about relativity saying that if you think you get it, you actually have no idea."

in slightly more scientific terms, the theory of relativity is a new way to think about gravity. in Newtonian physics, gravity "pulls" to masses together. however, one of the idea's of physics is that forces push, but never pull. so, gravity can't "pull" items towards the earth. what is really happening (according to Einstein), is that large masses (such as the sun and earth) distort the field of space time. This distortion (along with a constant flow of time) then "pushes" objects into their paths. Thus, gravity now pushes instead of pulls.

Here is an example that may help you see it. remember those old donation things where you roll a coin down a ramp, it hits a funnel and spins around for a while, and then goes into the hole (unless you just liked the spinning and stole your quarter back each time). Think of the funnel as space-time, and the coin as a planet. Its because of the curvature of the funnel that coin goes around and around. same idea with relativity, where its the curvature of space-time that tells the planets where to go.

the underlying idea is that space-time tells objects where to go, and objects tell space-time how to look. at least thats a short take on what relativity is. Clearly Vicki's post is more complete, but also a bit longer.