We are all aware about the theory of relativity. In newtonian physics, If a train A moves with a velocity of 300 km/h towards north and another train B moves in the same track with a velocity of 200 km/h then the first train is moving with a velocity of 100 km/h towards north with respect to an observer in the second train..
Quite simple isn't it?
But what if relativity is not just confined to the realms of newtonian physics?
What if it transcends into the mystic world of quantum physics?
Einstein in a famous thought experiment explored the possibility of time being relative...
Now, it is not so simple..
Is it?
We perceive time to be an entity that travels unflinchingly forward with a constant pace. But what if it were a relative quantity like others? What if the relativity theory that applied to space could be expanded for time as well?
Einstein came up with a breakthrough that would change the course of the entire world of physics ever after with his little thought experiment. Imagine you are observing a clock tower from a moving train, ah..a train moving with a velocity of 299,792,458 m/s (the speed of light).
Now, since you are relatively at rest to the light beams from the clock, the time now seems to "freeze".
How is it possible?
Furthermore, now the light is traveling at a velocity of 0m/s with respect to you traveling with a velocity of 299,792,458 m/s.
But isn't the velocity of light supposed to be a constant?
To explain these paradoxes, Einstein came up with the theory of special relativity.
According to this theory, time was also a relative entity like space. Time can be strteched or shortened depending on the velocity of the observer in question. According to him, the faster a particle travels through space, the slower the time passes. This is famously referred to as "Time Dilation"
This gave rise to a whole new element called the "space time", which we will explore later!!
Click here to read about Bigbang theory
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