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Relativity and Reference Frames

Engineering Physics

Relativity and the equivalence of Reference Frames video - Breakthrough at the Junior Challenge 2017. This teenager (Hillary Diane Andeles) does a great job on simplifying the concept of relativity!.

Relativity comes in two forms, Special and General. Special and General Relativity.

Simplified

  • Special Relativity is the theory that no matter what constant speed you're traveling all the laws of physics are the same.
  • General Relativity says that being at rest in a gravitational field and accelerating are physically identical.

Together these two show that no matter how you're moving all the laws of physics work the same, and so you can treat yourself as if you were at rest - however one does need to understand their "relativity" to the object being observed.