Physics: Theory of Relativity

These sites are for high school physics students to research the effects of special and general relativity. Games, interactive diagrams, videos, audio files, and equations all help to explain Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. There is a link to an eThemes Resources on Albert Einstein.

Grades

Links

The Physics Classroom: This site has four lessons: Relativity, Time Dilation, Length Contraction, and Relativistic Mass. There are many examples and practice problems.
Nobel Prize: Relativity: Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 and Nobel sponsors this site. There are many topics including a timeline under the link, “History of Special Relativity.”
Einstein Light: See the animations and film clips featured on this site. Some movies take time to load. You can select explanations with or without mathematics.
World of Physics: Special Relativity: Read Eric Weisstein’s explanation of special relativity. Weisstein uses equations and vectors. NOTE: The site has a link to a guestbook.
PBS: Einstein's Big Idea: Read articles, take a quiz, play an interactive game, listen to audio files, and many more resources about Einstein.
General Relativity and Black Holes: This site provides a discussion of the Equivalence Principle, predictions of General Relativity, and much more. Diagrams and equations support the discussion.
Relativity Tutorial: See space-time diagrams on this site. Read the discussion of Galilean relativity and topics including Light Cones in Curved Space-time, Principle of Equivalence, and Time Dilation.
How Did Einstein Discover Relativity?: Read this essay by John Stachel, Professor Emeritus at Boston University.
Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity: See these animated diagrams that are part of a college level astronomy class.
The Light Cone: An Illuminating Introduction to Relativity: This site has animations and a visual explanation of the Twin Paradox. NOTE: RealPlayer is required.
Spacetime Wrinkles: This site is all about black holes. There are many videos that require RealPlayer. There are sound files, text, and movie thumbnails to accompany the videos.
General Relativity: See the actual image of Einstein’s 1916 paper on General Relativity. Click on the image to make it bigger.
Theory: Special Relativity: Explore just one of the many topics, Peculiar Relativistic Effects. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center operates this site for the US Department of Energy. NOTE: The site has a guestbook.
eThemes Resource: Famous People: Albert Einstein: Learn about one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century – Albert Einstein. Read about his life, discoveries, and theories. Learn here about two parts of the Relativity Theory: Special Relativity and General Relativity. Includes audio files, quizzes, animations, 3D simulations, and photographs.