Popular demonstrations commonly use stretched spandex fabric to illustrate the way in which curved spacetime mimics the force of gravity in general relativity. There are significant potential conceptual pitfalls to such an approach. In particular, it obscures the fact that most of what we ordinarily feel as gravity is due to the warping of time rather than space, a concept that is admittedly harder to demonstrate. Nevertheless, with appropriate caveats simulations of this kind can convey some of the wonder of Einstein’s theory to non-specialists.

Topics
Speed of sound, Energy conservation, Measuring instruments, Fundamental constants, General relativity, Gravitational waves, Magnetic materials, Polymers, Education, Laboratories
© 2018 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2018
American Association of Physics Teachers
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