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In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualizing and understanding relativistic effects such as how different observers perceive where and when events occur.
Learn about the theoretical scientific construct that connects space and time into a single continuum with four dimensions. Explore how Einstein's theories of relativity explain the curvature of space-time and the effects of gravity and motion on time.
Dec 29, 2023 · Learn how spacetime is a four-dimensional thing that connects space and time, and how it is warped by gravity and speed. Find out why time is different from the other dimensions and how physicists are trying to understand it better.
- Stephen Luntz
Learn what spacetime is and how it relates space and time in physics. Explore how spacetime varies for different observers, how it is measured, and how it is bent by gravity.
- Philosophy
- Quotes
- Introduction
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In 1906, soon after Albert Einstein announced his special theory of relativity, his former college teacher in mathematics, Hermann Minkowski, developed a new scheme for thinking about space and time that emphasized its geometric qualities. In his famous quotation delivered at a public lecture on relativity, he announced that,
\"The views of space and time which I wish to lay before you have sprung from the soil of experimental physics, and therein lies their strength. They are radical. henceforth, space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality.\"
This new reality was that space and time, as physical constructs, have to be combined into a new mathematical/physical entity called 'space-time', because the equations of relativity show that both the space and time coordinates of any event must get mixed together by the mathematics, in order to accurately describe what we see. Because space consi...
Learn what a space-time continuum is and how it relates to relativity theory. Find out how space and time are combined into a 4-dimensional object and how events are described in terms of their location in space-time.
Learn how to use Minkowski spacetime diagrams to visualize the effects of special relativity, such as time dilation and length contraction. Watch a video and see examples, questions and answers from students.
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A given point $(x,y,z,t)$ in space-time is called an event. Imagine, for example, that we plot the $x$-positions horizontally, $y$ and $z$ in two other directions, both mutually at “right angles” and at “right angles” to the paper (!), and time, vertically.
