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Research fields. Past experiments. Current experiments. Scientists. v. t. e. The Michelson–Morley experiment was an attempt to measure the motion of the Earth relative to the luminiferous aether, [A 1] a supposed medium permeating space that was thought to be the carrier of light waves. The experiment was performed between April and July 1887 ...
ether. Michelson-Morley experiment, an attempt to detect the velocity of Earth with respect to the hypothetical luminiferous ether, a medium in space proposed to carry light waves. First performed in Germany in 1880–81 by the physicist A.A. Michelson, the test was later refined in 1887 by Michelson and Edward W. Morley in the United States.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The. Michelson-Morley experiment. The German-born American physicist A.A. Michelson set the early standard for measurements of the speed of light in the late 1870s, determining a speed within 0.02 percent of the modern value. Michelson’s most noteworthy measurements of the speed of light, however, were yet to come.
May 9, 2020 · Learn about the 1887 experiment that tested the existence of ether and the speed of light in different directions. Find out how Michelson and Morley used an interferometer to measure the interference fringes and why their result challenged the ether theory.
Learn the simple idea behind the experiment to detect ether wind, and see the questions and comments from other learners. The experiment failed to find any effect of ether, which led to the development of special relativity.
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- If you have a fiber-optics cable running the circumference of the Earth at the equator, would a sign...Depends on who's observing. Suppose you're on the equator and sends a signal travelling both directions. Since you sent the signal simultaneously a...
- Did the Michelson-Morley experiment fail because it was unable to detect the effect of a luminiferou...Failed for both those reasons. 1. If there was a universal frame of reference (ie. ether), then their experiment would have detected a change in sp...
- If the speed of light speed up when travel in the same directions of the ether and slow down when it...Let's say that in ether light would move at c. Also, consider Earth moving at a velocity v relative to the ether, and that, at some day, the ray th...
- How is it possible to build it so precise that the outward mirrors have exactly the same distance fr...You build in a mechanism that lets you make very small adjustments to the length, and you "tune" it before you start the experiment. It was very ch...
- I have some questions about this. First off, the Michelson-Morley experiment ran in 1887. It did fin...Well, in those days I think the question was about "is there an ether that carries light waves or does light travel through space, which is a void:...
- As we know light would travel at different speeds at vacuum than let's say in glass. So, is this ent...I think the test was done in country-side room with mirrors in air. You are right. M-M exp assumed either could be detected in air. That could have...
- The absence of ether wind does not imply the absence of ether.I think there was a suggestion that the Ether might 'stick' to the Earth as it moves and this is why we dont detect the wind. The wind moves around...
- I still don't quite understand how the ether-affected ray travels longer/shorter time compared to th...Let's use an absurd example. You're in a zeppelin, travelling with an airspeed of 50 kph with a 49 kph wind at your back. So your groundspeed is 99...
- Shouldn't both light waves be affected by the movement of the aether? The light source parallel to t...Yes, they will both be affected, but the effect is not the the same in the parallel direction as it is in the perpendicular direction.
- When the light ray goes up, it speeds up due to the "ether"... and when it returns, it slows down. S...Do the math - let vy be your speed, and ve be the ether speed, both with respect to the ground. If distance s=vt, then t=s/v. So going out, _tg = s...
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Feb 27, 2019 · The Michelson-Morley experiment was an attempt to measure the motion of the Earth through the luminous ether. Though often called the Michelson-Morley experiment, the phrase actually refers to a series of experiments carried out by Albert Michelson in 1881 and then again (with better equipment) at Case Western University in 1887 along with chemist Edward Morley.
Learn about the history and significance of the Michelson-Morley experiment, which tested the nature of light and the speed of light. Explore the concepts of interference, wavelength, and wave motion with examples and diagrams.
