General Relativity Flashcard

Front

What is the effect of a greater gravitational field strength on clocks?

Back

Clocks tick slower.

Front

What is the discrepancy in the precession of Mercury's orbit that cannot be accounted for using Newton's equations?

Back

43 seconds of arc per century.

Front

What is the phenomenon called when light from a galaxy is bent by the gravitational distortion of spacetime?

Back

Gravitational lensing.

Front

What was the first experimental evidence for general relativity?

Back

Observation of starlight during an eclipse.

Front

What happens to time at the event horizon of a black hole?

Back

Time stops.

Front

Define General Relativity.

Back

A theory of gravitation developed by Albert Einstein, describing gravity as a curvature of spacetime caused by mass.

Front

What is spacetime?

Back

A four-dimensional continuum combining the three dimensions of space with the dimension of time.

Front

Explain the concept of time dilation.

Back

The difference in elapsed time as measured by two observers, due to a relative difference in velocity or gravitational field.

Front

What is gravitational time dilation?

Back

The effect of gravity on the passage of time, where time runs slower in stronger gravitational fields.

Front

What is the Schwarzschild radius?

Back

The radius of a sphere such that, if all the mass of an object were to be compressed within that sphere, the escape velocity would equal the speed of light.