Download Albert Einstein: his life and his science

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E = mc2
(What the heck does that mean?)
* He just wanted to Bee a scientist
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* Born in Germany in 1879
* Died in the U.S. in 1955
* Married twice (once to a cousin?)
* Won the Noble Prize (for the Photoelectric
effect)
* Lived an unusual life with a somewhat difficult
childhood.
* Much of his early science accomplished outside
the mainstream or “academic” world
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* Einstein published 4 papers in 1905 at the age
of 26
* These papers together changed science as they
led to breakthroughs in quantum theory, the
existence and size of atoms and molecules,
space and time are relative, and the famous
equation E = mc2
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* Photoelectric Effect
* Energy is exchanged in discrete amounts (quanta)
* Led to early development of quantum theory
* Einstein won the Nobel Prize for this idea
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* Brownian Motion
* Motion of small suspended particles
* Led to ideas about existence, size, and motion of
atoms and molecules
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* Special Relativity
* Reconciled Maxwell’s equations which resulted in
all e/m radiation moving at the speed of light
* Speed of light is a universal constant which is
unchanged regardless of the reference frame
(independent of the motion of the observer)
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* Matter – Energy Equivalence
* E = mc2
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* “What would it be like to ride a beam of
light?”
* Much of Einstein’s life was focused on
understanding LIGHT
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* Special Relativity (Inertial reference frames, no
acceleration)
* One of his earliest accomplishments
* Speed of light is a constant, leading to the ideas
that TIME and SPACE are relative
*General Relativity (tackling acceleration & Gravity)
*Developed after many years of difficult work.
*A new explanation for Gravity.
*A new explanation for the laws of the universe
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