Chapter 16 Part 2: Relativity - Momentum, Mass, Energy, and Gravity

Chapter 16 Part 2: Relativity - Momentum, Mass, Energy, and Gravity (16.4 - 16.6)

SC.912.N.1.2  
Describe and explain what characterizes science and its methods.
LAFS.1112.RST.2.4
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 11–12 texts and topics.
LA.910.2.2.3 The Student will organize information to show understanding or relationships among facts, ideas, and events (e.g. representing key points within text through charting, mapping, paraphrasing, comparing, contrasting, or outlining).

Preview Video HERE

In class reading of  16.4 - 16.6

1. The ____________________ states that local observations made in an accelerated frame of reference cannot be distinguished from observations made in a Newtonian gravitational field.
2. 2 balls, one of lead and one of wood, are dropped in an accelerating spaceship. Explain why any occupants might attribute their fall to gravity.
3. Explain why the balls in the above example would hit the floor at the same time.
4. Einstein stated that the correspondence principle holds for all natural phenomena, including ___________, electromagnetic, and ___________ phenomena.
5. Determine if the following statement is true or false: Just as a tossed ball curves in a gravitational field, so does a light beam.
6. According to Newton, tossed balls curve because of a ____________.
7. According to Einstein, explain why the path of a tossed ball is curved.
8. Space-time has _________ dimensions: ___________ space dimensions and ______ time dimension.
9. Match the drawings to the correct statement:

• A. The sum of the angles of the triangle is greater than 180º
  B. The sum of the angles of the triangle is less than 180º
  C. The sum of the angles of the triangle is equal to 180º

10. The lines of the shortest distance between 2 points on a curved surface are called _____________.
11. Although space-time is curved within a solar system or within a galaxy, recent evidence suggests that the universe as a whole is ________.
12. A universe of zero or negative ____________ is open ended and extends without limit.
13. Determine if the following statement is true or false: The presence of mass produces a curvature or warping of space-time. Conversely, a curvature of space-time reveals the presence of mass.
14. Determine if the following statements are true or false:
• General relativity tells us that the bumps, depressions, and warpings of geometrical space-time are gravity.
• It is easy to visualize four dimensions because we are four-dimensional beings.
• The planets that orbit the sun travel along three-dimensional geodesics in the warped space-time about the sun.
• Every object has mass and therefore makes a bump or depression in the surrounding space-time.
15. The ripples that travel outward from the gravitational sources at the speed of light are _____________________.
16. Determine if the following statement is true or false: The gravitational waves emitted by a vibrating electric charge are a trillion-trillion-trillion times weaker than the electromagnetic waves emitted by the same charge.
17. Go HERE to watch a video about the discovery of gravitational waves.
18. Upon developing the general theory of relativity, Einstein predicted that the elliptical orbits of the planets __________ about the sun, starlight passing close to the sun is ___________, and ___________ causes time to slow down.
19. State the planet's orbit is most affected by the curvature of space.
20. Explain how scientists accounted for the extra 43 seconds or arc per century in Mercury's orbit before Einstein.
21. Summarize the second test of Einstein's general relativity theory.
22. Determine if the following statements are true or false:
• Einstein predicted that gravity causes clocks to run fast.
• Einstein predicted that clocks on the first floor of a building should tick slightly more slowly than clocks on the top floor.
• From the top to bottom of the tallest skyscraper, the difference between 2 ticking clocks will vary only a few millionths of a second per decade.
• For larger differences, like those at the surface of the sun compared with the surface of Earth, the difference in 2 ticking clocks will be more pronounced.
23. Light traveling "against gravity" is observed to have a slightly lower frequency due to an effect called the ___________________.
24. Measurements of time depend not only on relative motion but also on ___________.