Category: Science & Technology
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What was the role Satyendra Nath Bose played in Einstein’s scientific life?
Einstein received a paper from Indian scientist Satyendra Nath Bose in 1924. The paper was on a new perspective: to think of light as a gas filled with indistinguishable particles. Einstein recognized the relevance of the paper. He translated it to German and submitted it on behalf of Bose to the famous journal…
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Were Einstein’s researches after the General Theory of Relativity mostly based on universal field theories?
Einstein was primarily in pursuit of a universal field theory after the General Theory of Relativity. He engaged in a series of unsuccessful attempts to further generalize the theory of gravitation in order to unify and simplify the fundamental laws of physics, in particular, gravitation and electromagnetism. This ‘theory of everything’ was supposed to refute…
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Why was Einstein not a great supporter of the quantum theory?
Einstein had also made contributions to the development of the quantum theory. The concept of light quanta (photons) was used by him in 1905 to explain the Photoelectric Effect and to develop the quantum theory of specific heat. Despite playing a main role in its development, Einstein regarded the quantum theory only as a temporarily…
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Which was the year Einstein received the Nobel Prize?
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 was awarded to Albert Einstein “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.” Albert Einstein received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1922. During the selection process in 1921, the Nobel Committee for Physics decided that none of…
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How did the General Theory of Relativity prove to be correct in 1919?
Einstein has published four papers on the general theory of relativity. In the third paper, he used general relativity to explain why Mercury’s closest point to the Sun (its perihelion) is erratic. Gravitational influence of the Sun and other planets was not sufficient explanation for this movement. Some even went as far as to suggest…
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What is the General Theory of Relativity?
The General Theory of Relativity predicted that the space-time around Earth would be warped and twisted due to Earth’s rotation. The theory gave a new framework for all of physics and proposed new concepts of space and time. In 1907, Einstein had certain realizations about his theory. He understood that special relativity could not be…
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Why is it said that Einstein was not the first one to follow the photoelectric effect?
Einstein was not the first scientist to observe and study the photoelectric effect. However, he was the first to properly understand the nature of light and draw the correct assumptions from it. Physicists James Clerk Maxwell in Scotland and Hendrik Lorentz in the Netherlands had already proved the wave nature of light in the late…
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What is photoelectric effect?
Photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a substance when electromagnetic radiations fall on it. For instance, when light falls on a metal plate, electrons are ejected. Light with energy above a particular point frees electrons from the surface of the solid metal. Each photon (particle of light) collides with an electron and uses…
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What is the most famous equation formulated by Albert Einstein?
The equation E=mc2 is perhaps one of the most famous scientific equations of all time. As mentioned previously, this equation came up in the fourth paper Einstein published in 1905. It states that energy is equal to the product of mass and the square of the speed of light. Which means that, matter can transform…
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What is the Special Theory of Relativity?
The Special Theory of Relativity was published in 1905. It presented the astonishing idea that space and time are not absolute but relative. Or simply put, changes in the measurements of distance and passing of time depends on the observer who is measuring them. Einstein added a fourth dimension (time) to the three existing dimensions…