General Relativity Rubber Sheet

This curvature gives rise to the gravitational force.

General relativity rubber sheet.

The ball stretches the rubber to form a nice curved bowl shape. Imagine a large rubber mat with a bowling ball sitting on it. Rubber sheet with a bowling. Einstein instantly became world famous.

In general relativity energy and mass have curvature effects on the four dimensions of the universe spacetime. Spacetime is depicted as a rubber sheet whilst an object such as a bowling ball often representing a planet or star though it can be any object with mass then deforms this rubber sheet when it is placed on top. The observed effect was exactly what einstein had predicted. Who came up with the idea of the rubber sheet analogy in relativity.

This state of affairs is almost entirely the result of one the most famous analogies in science. Some there have wondered if it was the rubber sheet geometry as topology was described as apparently that may have perhaps unconsciously given birth to the idea as an analogy. The bowling ball represents a large mass like a planet or our sun. But on a rubber sheet that is deformed by a.

General relativity predicted that light would bend in a gravitational field. That s hardly surprising given the complexity of the mathematics involved. The rubber is a two dimensional representation of the fabric of spacetime. It seems topology was established before special or general relativity was formulated.

An analogy is always incorrect otherwise it would not be an analogy. A common analogy is placing a heavy object on a stretched out rubber sheet causing the sheet to bend downward. That the warping of spacetime to produce gravity is like the deformation of a rubber sheet by a central mass. Find out what is relativity and how einstein theories of general and special relativity explain the existence of black holes gravitational waves and dark energy.

Imagine the old bowling ball analogy for general relativity and spacetime. Kentuckyfc writes general relativity is mathematically challenging and yet widely appreciated by the public. All analogies sacrifice accuracy in order to convey some aspect that is considered significant in this case the notion that gravity is caused by curvature of space time.