Recent content by cml149

A.T., if my stationary object, "doesn't necessarily move on a geodesic curve in space", why would it start moving towards the second massive object? If everything is moving through spacetime at a rate equal to c, then, if something is placed in a gravitational field where it's advancement...

Frederik, so we define nonaccelerated motion or, inertial motion as motion along a geodesic where a geodesic defines the shortest distance between two points in spacetime. And then accelerated motion is that which does not move along a geodesic or, deviates from it. So when an object with zero...

ok, I don't think I'll be able to understand in anymore detail than that. thanks for your help

Ok, that makes it clear then. Thanks for spending so much time on this. So, back to my original question, what makes a stationary object accelerate if it is placed in a curved spacetime. You originally said that because of the warping of time, specifically, it would be possible for an object...

ok, so, if you had two objects, one accelerating in free space and one stationary in a gravitational field, is there any experiment you could do to distinguish the two situations? The equivalence principle says there isn't. Using the term we are trying to avoid the equivalence principle says the...

Why does our body feel the force of a chair on us but not the force from gravity when we are free falling? The only difference seems to be the contact of two objects when we are sitting and the effects of it on our nerves. Would someone paralyzed feel the same sitting in a chair as they would...

So I guess what I'm stuck on is more elementary physics. You say that when youre sitting on the ground you "feel" your weight of 130 pounds. But, this weight that you "feel" could alternatively be a result of your box accelerating upwards at g m/s2. I understand that. So, embarrassingly, why do...

cepheid, of course, you could not determine between acceleration due to gravity and acceleration by some other cause. But it seems the force of Einstein's argument comes from the fact that there is no way to distinguish between acceleration and being stationary in a gravitational field. Because...

additionally, if, in the case of gravity we say that a force or, the mechanism that makes things accelerate, is the warping of spacetime, why would the other fundamental forces not be explained in terms of space and time? It seems like general relativity gave us an explanation for what a force...

So, if a massive object is placed in the gravitational field of a second massive object then, because of the curvature of spacetime time will pass more slowly for that object according to an observer in flat spacetime. How would this change the relative position of the two objects? If I were to...

My question is, if an object with no velocity is placed in a gravitational field, what causes it to accelerate? In Newton's theory of gravity, it was just accepted that if there is a force on an object, it accelerates. However, in general relativity, acceleration is now due to an object's...

I think it is generally accepted that there really isn't any 'void'. That even free space has a certain amount of energy even when there is no matter present. The energy is a result of 'virtual particles' popping into and out of existence. The virtual particles are inferred from Heisenberg's...