Question

List at least three (3) consequences of the Principle of Equivalence and the General Theory of Relativity

Answer 1

Consequence of the Principle of Equivalence

Initially the principle of equivalence starts with the stating the differences between Newton's theory of gravitation and the theory of gravitation implied by the General Theory of Relativity. There will be a general equivalence in the acceleration experience by a mass on earth and the same object experience an opposite acceleration which is said to be inertial and noninertial accelerating reference frame. A small summary of the three consequence of the principle of equilence and general theory of relativity are

i) When light propagates through a direction under gravitational field, the light direction is changed which is contrary to the Newtonian predictions. After several observations it was confirmed that Einstein's prediction about the effect and its magnitude is right and is said to be Geometrical nature of gravity in which the light follows a curved path in a room under gravity.

ii) After proving the gravity can bend the light which is an massless, it can be easy to state the bending of the light and it can be explained through the mass nearer to the Sun. The observations where made during the total eclipse of 1919 found there was a shift in light from the star is bent by the Sun's gravity. There is precession of the perihelion of the Mercury's orbit is found in space over time. and it is shown in the figure

iii) The Binary pulsar which is a rapidly rotating neutron star and is the final state of some stars which converts to neutron star if its nuclear fuel has burnt out and it is a good experimental test of general relativity's predictions, which is different from predictions of Newtonian theory of strong fields. The experiment on binary pulsar's that the rate of slowing down the speed of rotation when it is under energy loss showed a emission of gravity waves that travel at the speed of light and are good agreement with the prediction of general relativity.