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Monday, December 2, 2013

2-for-1 Special!!! Space-Time

Space-time is kind of a big deal. As we discussed in class, when distorted by matter (massive bodies like planets, moons, etc.), it creates the sense of gravity. Earth's gravititational tug-of-war with the moon in turn is responsible for causing the Earth's tides. Gravity also causes light to bend, streeeeeeeeetching time.

Don't worry!....both concepts take awhile to get one's head around. Here's your assignment:

Watch the video (to the right...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAqSCuHA0j8) about space-time AND watch the full animation about tides (http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/motion/tides1.htm) -- the total viewing time is less than 5 minutes. Then post a SPECIFIC question you have about EACH concept that you want answered in class.
(That means two questions from everyone. Oh, and by the way, "I don't get space-time?" doesn't count as a good, specific question!) ;)

We'll discuss your questions before your quiz tomorrow and get to the bottom of these topics.

60 comments:

  1. 1. Can any force affect space-time other than gravity?
    2. What would happen to the tides if there were two moons of equal mass

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  2. 1. How can light be affected by gravity, when light has no mass?
    2. How does the distance of the moon and sun affect tides?

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  3. 1. What would happen if there were two objects of equal mass evenly spaced and another object passed between them? What would happen if the two even masses were placed right next to each other?
    2. Would the tide opposite the moon, when the moon is farthest away from the sun, be the same as the tide closest to the moon?

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  4. Q1:
    What would happen if space-time was not taut?

    Q2:
    Why does my soup not have high/low tidal waves?

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  5. Q1: If there were 2 black holes evenly spaced out at a good distance and an object like our moon was supposed to go in between them what would happen to it's structure?
    Q2: What's the minimal mass required to cause waves?

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  8. 1. What would happen to the tidal bulge if there was a black hole close to planet earth, considering how strong its gravitational pull is?

    2. Does gravity physically bend the rays of light, or does it just affect our perception of how we see the light?

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  9. 1. As black hole can get bigger and thus increasing it's gravitational pull, could the whole universe one day become a big black whole?

    2. Could the shape of the diffrent oceans change due to the tides from the moons gravitational pull?

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  10. Question 1. If I'm at a place in the universe where little light gets too, why do i age slower than places where there is more light?

    Question 2. If the moon was closer to the earth and caused bigger tides, would the earth have enough gravity to repel down the tides? Or would water simply get pulled up?

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  11. 1. What would happen to the tides on planet earth if there were 4 moons equally distanced from each other?
    2. How does space time affect the gravity of a black hole?

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  12. 1. Regarding space-time and how mass affects the fabric of it, would people age differently on different planets?

    2. What would happen to the tides on Earth if another planet or moon or meteor of the same size as our moon was to get drawn in by Earth's gravitational pull and orbit around it?

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  13. 1.) Does spaghettification only happens at the edge of a black hole?
    2.) Could all the tides on earth be equal (meaning all be high tides) if there are four moons of equal masses and of equal distances from earth in the gravitational pull?

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  14. 1. How is gravity not really a force? What exactly justifies it as a fabric?
    2. Why does the Moon pull most of the water nearest to it instead of the Sun?

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  15. 1.If its true that space can expand and contract in the presence of matter, will there ever be an instance where it expands so much there isn’t anywhere else for it to expand to, and where is it expanding into?

    2.If the moon pulls most of the water thats nearest to it closer, creating a high tide bulge of water why when the moon's pull is weaker does the water form another high tide bulge on the other side if the pull of the moon isn’t as strong in that area.

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  16. 1. Why cant light escape the affects of gravity?
    2. What is stronger the gravitational pull or the inertia?

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  17. 1) What would happen if two objects of equal mass but different size were both placed on the fabric of space-time?
    2) If the moon has a greater influence on the tides than the sun, then why do neap tides occur?

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  18. Why is space-time like fabric? Why is it not like a table that is strong enough to hold up large masses without bending?

    If a meteor the size of the moon came close to earth, would it affect the tides as much as the moon does?

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  19. 1) Why cant light escape the effects of gravity?

    2) Why does regular drinking water in a glass not give in to the gravitational pull?

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  20. Did the "space time fabric" exist before the Big Bang?

    When Earth experiences a neap tide does the moon still have a greater gravitational pull than the sun?

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  21. 1. Why can light not escape the effects of gravity?
    2. What would happen to the tides if we had more than one moon?

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  22. 1. How does light physically bend due to gravity?
    2. How does inertia play a role in creating high tides?

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  23. If light is massless, how does gravity act on in?
    Why are there always 2 high and 2 low tides? (why not 3 high and 1 low?)

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  24. 1. What sparked Einstein's deviation from the accepted principals of classical physics and his research that would eventually lead to his theories of special and general relativity?

    2. As light cannot escape from a black hole, wouldn't time, in theory, stop inside a black hole?

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  25. 1. Why do neap tides form if the high tide is constantly working with the moon, doesn't the constant reaction with moon stop the sun's affects?

    2. Is the difference between a fast moving object compared to an object that is still great, when it comes to gravity?

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  26. 1.Would having two moons affect the tides any more than having four moons?

    2. Would we age much slower on a planet with a larger mass than earth?

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  27. If light has no weight or mass how does gravity affect it?
    What if the moon had oceans? What would its tides do? Would it affect earth's?

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  28. 1. How does gravity effect light, since it has no mass? Also, why can light not escape the gravitational pull?

    2. Why do Neap tides occur if the moon has more gravitational pull than the sun?

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  29. 1. Why doesn't the ball in the "Trampoline of Gravity" hit the weight at the center if it is so heavy?

    2. Why is there high tide on the side closest to the moon, as well as it's opposite side? Why isn't it just on that one side?

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  30. 1. What would happen if two planets of equal mass and density traveled into each others gravitational pulls?

    2. What would happen to the tides if we had no moon?

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  31. 1. How does an object wrap space and time?Also, what influences the object that wraps space and time?

    2. Why is the moon a greater influence on the tides than the sun?

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  32. 1. Because space and time are weaved together, when space expands and contracts does it effect time similarly?
    2. In relation to tides, would the moon be less or more powerful than the sun?

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  33. 1. If light cannot escape a black whole, why is time slower. Wouldn't it stop because time is equal to light?
    2. How come in a neap tide, when there is a higher tide from the gravitational pull of the sun and earth, there is stronger inertia in the water pulling it outward on the other side?

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  34. 1. What makes space-time so taut? Is that just how it is? (Like energy)
    2. If Earth had no moon, would oceans have no waves and just be still?

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  35. 1. Why does earth'is gravitational pull not counteract the moons gravitational pull. The earths gravity should hold the tides in place and since it is closer to us it should overcome the moons gravitational pull yet the moon continues to change our tides. How is it powerful enough to do this.

    2. Gravity affects objects with mass and gravity is the force that traps objects of mass in black holes. If light possesses no mass how is it captured by black holes

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  36. 1. If two equal in mass planets were in space and another mass flew exactly between them, what would happen?

    2. What would happen to the earth if our moon suddenly disappeared?

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  37. 1. What allows us to see stars that are behind other stars and/or planets when looking up at space?

    2. If moon had more mass would tides be more dangerous due to earth's orbit around the moon?

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  38. 1. Can only planets have a gravitational pull?

    2. What would happen to Earth's tides if it had two moons?

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  39. 1. How does spaghettification work exactly? Why is there intense gravity working on the atoms at the event horizon?
    2. Does anything else other than the moon and the sun in outer space, such as planets, control Earth's tides?

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  40. 1. If the Earth had less mass then the moon how would this affect Earths tides?
    2. How does gravity changing the course light takes affect time?

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  41. 1. Why did Einstein classify space time as a "fabric weaving together space and time"?
    2. Why is the timing of tides determined by the Earth's rotation and the Moon's orbit around the Earth?

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  42. 1. How can we see the star behind the sun if gravity doesnt affect light?
    2. what would happen if we had multiple moons?

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  43. 1. How is light affected by gravity if it does not have an mass?

    2. What would happen to the tides if there were 2 moons on each side of the earth?

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  44. 1. What other forces can affect space-time?
    2. How is something with no mass, light, affected by gravity?

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  45. 1.would having the two moons or no moon radically change the tide
    2if light has no mass how can the black hole pull it in

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  46. 1. Does the size of the matter effect it's impact on the fabric of space time? (in other words, is it solely weight, or does it have to do with the volume of the object?)
    2. Why does the moon cause high tide if the sun has a stronger gravitational pull?

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  47. 1. If we had a mass bigger than the moon in a "tug of war" instead, would there be more tsunamis or high rise like waves.

    2. Why does a pond not have tidal waves like the ocean, and in that sense why doesn't wine in a glass have mini tidal waves.

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  48. 1. Is the fabric space-time bent by stationary objects (buildings, etc) because they are on the ground and have little to no gravitational potential energy?

    2. If the moon wasn't there, would we have no tides on Earth or would the sun act like the moon and create the tides?

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  49. 1. Does how heavy and object (planet) is, effect how much the light could and would be bent? Also, does the mass of the object of which the light is being bent, effect how much it would be bent?
    2. Why are the tides lower when the moons orientation is above or below the earth?

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  50. 1. What would the tides be like on planets with more than one moon, such as Jupiter, if there was water on Jupiter?
    2. Why does the mass of the sun not compensate for the distance, in order to create an equal pull to the moon?

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  51. 1. How did Einstein "figure out" the concept of space-time?

    2. What would happen if Earth had no ocean but its gravity still had a tug-of-war with the moon's gravitational pull.

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  52. 1. How did Einstein suddenly figure out that we are living in a "fabric" called space time, and also how do space and time overlap to create gravity?
    2. I dont understand how the moon affects the tides when the tides are also based on the weather in that area.

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  53. 1. If the sizes of two objects are the same but the masses are different, what would happen if both objects were placed on the fabric of space-time?

    2. Does the moon only affect the tides on Earth or can other objects the same size as the moon equally affect the tides?

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  54. 1. How do we know how much slower time passes on heavier planets?

    2. If the moon got stolen (like in despicable me) would we still have tides?

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  55. 1) If two objects with the same size but different masses were both placed in the fabric of space time, which would orbit and which would remain stationary?
    2) Why does the gravitational pull and inertia have different affects on the tides?

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  56. Why doesnt our earth stray out on a different path? Why does the earth stay in the exact same place regarding orbit?

    If the moon was more dense than the earth, would be orbit around the moon?

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  57. 1. If two stars were close to each other would they implode into each other?
    2. If there was no moon would there be no waves to body board on?

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  58. Do different planets orbit differently considering their place in the universe regarding neighboring planets and gravitational fields?

    What is the measure of time within a black hole?

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  59. 1) How long does it take for a star to be "born"?
    2) Why are tides even important to us as humans?

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  60. 1. Why doesn't the sun effect tides, besides spring tides?
    2. Can only planets bend space time?

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