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The train-and-platform experiment from the reference frame of an observer on board the train Reference frame of an observer standing on the platform (length contraction not depicted) A popular picture for understanding this idea is provided by a thought experiment similar to those suggested by Daniel Frost Comstock in 1910 [16] and Einstein in ...
We therefore do not know just how important clock synchronization and the train and embankment thought experiment were to Einstein's development of the concept of the relativity of simultaneity. We do know, however, that the train and embankment thought experiment was the preferred means whereby he chose to teach this concept to the general public.
The ladder paradox (or barn-pole paradox) is a thought experiment in special relativity.It involves a ladder, parallel to the ground, travelling horizontally at relativistic speed (near the speed of light) and therefore undergoing a Lorentz length contraction.
In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between space and time.In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, the theory is presented as being based on just two postulates: [p 1] [1] [2]
Scientists also use thought experiments when particular physical experiments are impossible to conduct (Carl Gustav Hempel labeled these sorts of experiment "theoretical experiments-in-imagination"), such as Einstein's thought experiment of chasing a light beam, leading to special relativity. This is a unique use of a scientific thought ...
1895 – Albert Einstein probably makes his thought experiment about chasing a light beam, later relevant to his work on special relativity. 1897 – Oliver Lodge publishes another experimental result questioning aether drag. 1897 – Joseph Larmor publishes his coordinate transformations extending the length contraction formula.
The rotating disc and its connection with rigidity was also an important thought experiment for Albert Einstein in developing general relativity. [4] He referred to it in several publications in 1912, 1916, 1917, 1922 and drew the insight from it, that the geometry of the disc becomes non-Euclidean for a co-rotating observer. Einstein wrote ...
The moving magnet and conductor problem is a famous thought experiment, originating in the 19th century, concerning the intersection of classical electromagnetism and special relativity. In it, the current in a conductor moving with constant velocity, v , with respect to a magnet is calculated in the frame of reference of the magnet and in the ...