• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Relativity Explained in Haiku

rwald

Unregistered
R
Relativity.
Hard to explain in haiku.
But I think I'll try.

First, there's "special;" it
Has no acceleration
Only about speed.

For all observers
Who aren't speeding up or down.
Physics is the same.

Imagine two guys
Floating out in open space.
They're named Al and Bert.

If they move apart
Does Al move, or is it Bert?
There's no way to tell.

But what about light?
Al could take a lamp with him
And then turn it on.

Light travels at c.
Al can compare self to light.
To find his speed, right?

Nope, that would not work.
Light always travels at c.
For all observers.

What? You do not care?
This fact changes many things:
Classic example:

We have a train car.
Two leaders at front and back
Plus there's a table.

Leaders just fought war.
Now, they want to sign treaty
At exact same time.

So, here's what they do:
They put light bulb on table
Half-way in between.

When they see the light
Then they will sign the treaty.
Will be the same time?

An observer on
The car would say both leaders
Signed at the same time.

"The light left the bulb,
Traveled exact same distance
Reached ends at same time."

But, an observer
Sitting beside the train tracks
Wouldn't agree to this.

"After light turned on
The train was still moving fast
Distances were changed.

The leader in back
Moved closer to where bulb was
He saw the light first."

So, which one is right?
The answer is both of them.
Not intuitive.

So, time's relative.
It moves differently for some
Than does for others.

Also, without time
Length and mass are relative
Only c's constant.

That was the "special"
Type of relativity
Now, for "general."

So, you cannot say
Whether or not you're moving.
But that isn't all.

You also can't speak
About acceleration.
Why? Let me explain.

To put it simply:
Gravity accelerates
Just like space ships do.

More complicated:
Imagine a fast space ship
With you inside it.

You feel a pull
Towards the bottom of your ship
Just like gravity.

What's making this pull?
It is the whole universe.
As it goes past you.

Same with centrifuge:
The whole universe revolves
Around the sample tube.

Neither you nor tube
Can say if they are moving
Or the universe.

When you are moving
Space-time gets "warped" around you
Warping makes the pull.

Same with gravity.
A large mass will warp space-time.
And create a pull.

"What is this 'space-time'?"
It is hard to understand.
I'll try to explain.

Usually, when
Things travel, they move in a
Perfectly straight line.

However, mass or
Acceleration can cause
A straight line to bend.

If you travel near
A large mass, you'll see your ship
Won't move in a line

Rather, it will curve
Around the large mass. This is
Because space-time bent.

In three dimensions
Your ship traveled in a curve
But not in space-time.

In four dimensions,
Your ship took the shortest path
That space-time allowed.

This is how orbits
Work; we're just moving through a
Bent-up space-time field.

Of course, there are some
Other cool effects of this:
Black holes, time travel.

But I will leave those
For a second discussion
I'll have an encore!

(If you liked this post
you would also like this link
It's interesting.

"Relativity
Explained using words of just
Four letters or less.")
 
Hi again Skeptoid,
What that lacked in lenght it made
Up in elegance.

(Seriously, though
A huge long post like mine is
Just no match for yours.)
 
Sometimes I'm amazed
Just how much time people have
On their hands these days

Relativity
In haiku is strange indeed
But I think it's neat

Kudos go to you
For accomplishing this task
With such elegance
 
Commendable, sir!
Your efforts are a pleasure
To read and ponder.
 
Standing Ovation
From the hammer headed one.
That was most intense.
 
All is forgiven,
rwald. We are friends again.
regards, BillyJoe.
 
I have forgotten,
When were we not friends? Always
I respected you.
 
Perhaps I am wrong.
Didn't you call me a troll
In that "bidlack" thread?
 
I don't recall that.
I'm sure it is possible.
If so, I'm sorry.
 
"Bidlack" was a joke.
The thread this is, not Bidlack.
No one understood.

They called me a troll.
"Borb the lot of them" you said.
It felt personal.
 
Rwald I am truly gobsmacked! I applaud your poetry and intellect!
 
When the Borb forum
Was first created, I said
"Borb!" to many threads.

I have sometimes been
Known to not understand jokes.
This could explain it.

Just for the record,
What is that thread's exact name?
I am curious.

In any event,
I think that we both agree.
That no harm was meant.
 
I told you: "Bidlack"
That was the name of my thread.
An innocent joke....

As you may recall
Bidlack created the forum
"Bogus or Brilliant"

Into this forum
He dumped all the nonsense threads
That litter our site.

I challenged Bidlack
To trash "Bidlack". In effect
To trash himself but.....

He missed the joke
And sent it to "The Flame Wars".
Thinking me a troll.
 
Ah, now I recall
The thread to which you refer.
Thanks, I get it now.

Incidentally,
I can't find a link to it.
It is curious.

I looked at the board.
Viewed "all" and sorted by name.
It still wasn't there.
 
It was in Flame Wars?
Than that explains the problem.
I looked in the Borb.
 
We've done haiku in.
The five seven five pattern.
And now we've finished.
 
I always cringe when I see this....
Nope, that would not work.Light always travels at c.For all observers.
Click to expand...
This is only true when in a vacuum.It is so often misquoted by leaving out the vacuum part.
 
Yes, you are correct.
If I recall correctly,
Some tests have changed speed.

One that was quite cool
Involved some kind of crystal
Normally opaque.

By using lasers,
They allowed light to pass through
At a slower rate.

How slow was this light?
Thirty-seven miles per hour.
Cars can drive faster.

And I must include
Some even more startling tests
Which increased the speed.

I heard that some have
Sent light at two or three c.
It might have been more.

Does it really count
If light travels faster than
C, the speed of light?

Yea, it's above c.
Which should be impossible.
But, it's only light.

I mean, isn't the
Speed of light defined as the
Speed at which light moves?

Light cann't exceed that.
Even if above c, it's
Not faster than light.

Anyway, the point is that
I know that the speed of light
Can sometimes be changed.

However, for the
Purposes of my haiku.
This did not matter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom