What evidence do we have that the velocity of light
is a universal constant? What is the significance
of that observation?
Why do we say that the speed of light is the speed
limit of the universe?
If you could make a detailed observation of the
Enterprise as it passed the Earth at 90% of the
speed of light, what conclusions would you draw
about the measurement of lengths and times on
the ship?
If you were on the Enterprise moving at 90% of the
speed of light past the Earth, what observations
would you make about the measurement of length
and time on the ship?
What kinds of evidence exists for length contraction
and time dilation in real experiments?
If you were in a spaceship traveling past the Earth at
0.9 c and another spaceship was traveling toward you,
also at 0.9 c, with what speed would you see the other
ship approaching?
You encounter the terms "Galilean transformation"
and "Lorentz transformation" often in literature
about relativity. Under what conditions are the
different transformations needed to describe
nature?
What happens to the mass of an object as it
approaches the speed of light? Does light have
mass? Does light have momentum?
Describe the implications of Einstein's famous
equation, E=mc . How does it handle kinetic
energy?
What is the principle of equivalence? Why is it
important in the search for the effects of
general relativity?
What is the difference between special relativity
and general relativity?
What experiments are cited to support the ideas
of general relativity?
What is meant by gravitational red shift? Has it
been observed?
What ideas from relativity suggest the existence
of black holes?
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