Space and time are related. This new view postulated by Albert Einstein formed a monumental shift in the way we see the world. Einstein worked as a poor patent office clerk where he had plenty of time to think about the principles of his theory of special relativity, published first in a paper in 1905. Einstein was big on thought experiments, he had a talent for visualizing hypothetical circumstances in his mind. He was basically a very productive day dreamer.
To start us off, imagine traveling on the highway at sixty miles per hour (I'm American, I use the arbitrary customary system). In the next lane is a car traveling parallel to you at the exact same speed, the same sixty miles per hour. To an outside observer, perhaps standing on the side of the road, both of you are traveling at sixty MPH. In the car, say you have a radar gun, used to measure the speed of an object relative to the user. Because you are both traveling at the same speed, if you used your radar gun on the car next to you, the speed would measure 0 miles per hour. Einstein knew that speeds measured relative to the one doing the measuring would add or subtract or cancel each other out. So if a car traveling the same direction as you, but going thirty miles per hour faster, then the speed relative to you would be thirty miles per hour. But the speed measured by a road-side observer would be your speed plus the speed of the car going thirty miles per hour faster.
The speed of the green car measured by the red car is twenty miles per hour
The speed of light had been accurately taken at the time, around 186,000 miles per second in a vacuum. Einstein then applied the principle described above to light assumed that the speed of light is a constant regardless of those taking the measurements moving relative to the light beam. That means even if you are traveling ninety nine percent the speed of light next to a light beam, the speed you measure is always the same, the exact same 186,000 miles per second (in a vacuum, that is). This had remarkable implications. It meant that in order to measure this same speed, the space around you itself had to distort as well as the time flow relative to an outside observer. The faster you go, the heavier you become. The energy used to travel at such phenomenal speeds was somehow becoming mass, this mass distorted the flow of space and time. This meant that time runs slower in areas of heavier space-time distortion then in areas that are less distorted. This is famously displayed in the Twin Paradox, where twins at birth are separated at birth, one staying on Earth and the other put on a starship traveling near light speed. The twin ages less on the ship then the one on Earth, so when he returns to Earth, there is an age difference despite them being born at the same time. This lead Einstein to the famous equation you can see everywhere you go, E=mc². E meaning energy, m for mass, and c for the speed of light. So because of the huge number represented by light speed, there is a huge amount of energy for a tiny amount of mass. Not only were space and time intrinsically related, but matter and energy were interchangeable!
This also meant that nothing can travel at the speed of light, the energy needed is infinite to propel matter at such a high speed. But since energy is like "liquid" matter and matter is like "solidified" energy, the energy would turn to matter and the infinite amount of matter thereby created is impossible. So the speed of light is the speed limit of the cosmos, nothing can travel faster than it.
We have delved into very important concepts of relativity, but due to my time limitations, I must continue this topic later. Keep checking back and feel free to ask questions below. Tell your friends about the blog and become a follower! I'll post again soon, until then, salutations!
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