THE GENERAL

THEORY OF
RELATIVITY
 THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

• The special theory of relativity

encompasses all inertial frames of reference
moving at uniform relative velocities.
Einstein then asked if systems moving in
nonuniform motion could be relative and
came up with the idea of general relativity.
 GENERAL RELATIVITY IS BASED
ON TWO POSTULATES:

PRINCIPLE OF EQUIVALENCE
• The effects of gravity and the effects of
acceleration are the same.
• Einstein realized that people do not feel their
own weight in free fall.
 GRAVITY

• is not a force but a

consequence of the curvature
of space-time, caused by the
uneven distribution of
mass/energy.
The postulates of the general
relativity have several
consequences. Prior to
Einstein’s theory of general
relativity, astronomers had a
hard time explaining the slow
shift in the orbit of mercury.
 GENERAL RELATIVITY ALSO
STATES THAT LIGHT CAN BE BENT
BY MASSIVE OBJECTS SUCH AS A
STAR (LIKE THE SUN).