einstein and the aether? help! (1 Viewer)

[fartman]

I don't understand how einsteins special relativity opposes / provides evidence against the aether model

 

[Kimyia]

I'm not sure how it opposes or provides evidence for the aether model since Einstein's theory completely did away with the aether model...I guess then that's opposing the aether model. Michelson and Morley's null result led to scientists looking for other explanations. Some claimed they did the experiment wrong, others suggested the earth dragged the aether with it, but all the other theories collasped under testing or logical reasoning. Then Einstein proposed special relativity where there was no aether, the speed of light was constant, and Michelson and Morley's null result was explainable.

 

[bosresearch]

To answer your question, I must re-iterate Einstein's second postulate of Relativity: the speed of light is constant across all inertial frames of reference.
As such, Relativity did not really prove/disprove relativity, it basically discarded the need for the aether (think about it: if something is constant no matter how or when you measure it, then why on Earth would you bother include it in your theories ??).
But to be more specific, the null result of the Michelson-Morley experiment can be viewed as empirical evidence to Einstein's Special relativity: the non-changing interference pattern (despite rotating the entire apparatus) confirms Einstein's postulate (which I have stated above).

Hope that helped

 

[bosresearch]

this got to be the most confusing, badly-written and inaccurate answer I have ever seen. Congratulations on earning this accolade

 

[fartman]

sorry i still dont get it. I dont really see the evidence against the aether model. Einstein states that the speed of light is a constant but how does this mean that the aether does not exist? As in can't the aether exist, allowing light to pass through it AND the speed of light be constant? The results of the M&M experiment only show that light is not affected by the aether but it still could exist right?
soo confused right now

 

[PaterzAttack]

the m-m experiment was meant to detect the aether
it failed to do this, casting the aether theory into doubt (but not disproving it)

einstein proposed the theory of relativity where the aether theory was done away with
experiments were done which agreed with einstein's theory

 

[hayabusaboston]

the m-m experiment was meant to detect the aether
it failed to do this, casting the aether theory into doubt (but not disproving it)

einstein proposed the theory of relativity where the aether theory was done away with
experiments were done which agreed with einstein's theory

omg the non-schooler attempts to venture into school territory.....a new achievement for the nocturnal creature

 

[Kimyia]

sorry i still dont get it. I dont really see the evidence against the aether model. Einstein states that the speed of light is a constant but how does this mean that the aether does not exist? As in can't the aether exist, allowing light to pass through it AND the speed of light be constant? The results of the M&M experiment only show that light is not affected by the aether but it still could exist right?
soo confused right now

Ok. Firstly, once upon a time it was thought that the aether was fact. There was no disputing it. We already knew stuff about waves and we knew that they had to travel through a medium. It was unfeasible that light could travel through a vacuum. Water waves needed water. Sound waves needed air or whatever else to travel through. Right? So they thought proving the aether existed would be easy! So the aether surrounded the earth, permeated everything - it was everywhere. Now, if you just wave your hand around in the air, your going to create a breeze, a wind aren't you? Of course. So if the earth was moving through the aether, it should have created a wind. Now, if you try sailing with a wind, your going to go faster, correct? But if you try sailing headfirst into a wind, its going to slow you down, correct? So it was believed that because light only travelled through the aether, just like the sail boat, it would be affected by this wind - going with it would make light speed up and going against it would make it slow down. NOW REMEMBER! This is all before Einstein's time so forget about him for the moment.
So..M&M set up this great experiment where one beam of light has to travel against the aether wind and the other travels with it. Theortically, there should be a difference in the velocities...but there wasn't. If there was some bloody big giant fantastical aether that did all this wonderful stuff and enormous bloody planets moved through it, you think it'd be easy to detect! A walk in the park! I mean, this thing was meant to fill the entire universe. We can detect the tiniest of stuff but we couldn't detect the like largest thing int the universe?! A simple experiment was performed but it showed nothing..nothing at all.
So yes, it means the aether could exist! It is possible...but its extremely improbable. Because they repeated and repeated and repeated the M&M experiment but no matter what they did, they couldn't detect the aether. So some other scientists tried to fiddle with the aether model, change its properties to try and explain the null result but nothing worked..it was all illogical.
So Einstein just went, screw youse all, this is my own theory, scrap the aether all together, forget about it, light doesn't need a medium, it travels through a vacuum, and its speed is constant.
The entire point of the aether was that is was the medium light travelled through. That what its primary purpose. Right? So if light wasn't affected by the aether when it SHOULD HAVE BEEN IF IT EXISTED then it means the aether theory is EXTREMELY FLAWED to say the LEAST.
So to answer your question, no the aether couldn't exist and still have the speed of light constant...there has to be an aether wind but nothing is detected, hence aether model is crap, hence Einstein made a new one!

..that had better make things clearer

 

[fartman]

ok I get it now haha
thanks so much for the taking the time to help!

 

[cutemouse]

It's funny how the interference and diffraction patterns are crucial to the M-M experiment, but they aren't in the syllabus. But you're expected to know the experiment...

 

[Kimyia]

ok I get it now haha
thanks so much for the taking the time to help!

your very welcome

It's funny how the interference and diffraction patterns are crucial to the M-M experiment, but they aren't in the syllabus. But you're expected to know the experiment...

that is weird, isn't it. i guess thats where the research part of the prac comes into it. at least we don't have to go into too much detail on interference patterns and such.