The Time Dilation Effect: The Speed of Light
In The Time Dilation Effect: The Speed of Light, narrator Kate Yule investigates Einstein’s observation that the speed of light doesn't follow the same laws as the speed of objects. Einstein suggested that time is relative and can speed up or slow down depending on movement. Learn how NASA tested this theory using twin astronauts. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Einstein & Hawking: Masters of Our Universe, a mind-bending documentary that tells the story of how the two most famous scientists of the 20th Century transformed our understanding of the Universe and changed the world.
Lesson Express
Q: What interested Einstein about the speed of light?
A: The speed of light seemed to follow a different set of properties than other objects.
Q: What was Einstein’s conclusion about time?
A: Einstein concluded that time was moving slower on the train, and therefore time is relative and can speed up or slow down based on how fast you’re moving.
Q: What does Einstein’s twin theory posit?
A: The theory suggests that if there were two twins, and one went into space and traveled close to the speed of light, then the twin in the spaceship would age slower than the twin on Earth.
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