How does Mercury's orbit prove General Relativity?

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When Einstein proposed his new theory of gravity in 1915 - his theory of General Relativity that massive objects curve space - he came up with three ways of testing his theory. One of those ways was whether it could properly predict the orbit of Mercury, which up until then, no theory of gravity had been able to do. So why is Mercury's orbit so odd?
Measuring the speed of light with marshmallows in a microwave: physicamechanica.wordpress.co...
Galle (1846) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
Le Verrier (1859) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
Swift (1878) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
Einstein (1915) - www.kritik-relativitaetstheor...
Schwarzschild (1916) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pd...
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👩🏽‍💻 Dr Becky Smethurst is an astrophysicist researching galaxies and supermassive black holes at Christ Church at the University of Oxford.
drbecky.uk.com
rebeccasmethurst.co.uk

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31 май 2024

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Комментарии : 2,1 тыс.

@DrBecky 4 года назад

Whoops! Seems like I misspoke about how GPS works towards the end of this video. Your phone doesn’t send a signal to satellites, it only receives them. Thanks to everyone who pointed this out in the comments already 👍 Also to those who pointed out perihelion is Greek not Latin - but we’ve always known language isn’t my forte 🤪

@calinculianu 4 года назад

You also mis-spoke about the origin of the word "perihelion". It's 100% a Greek word. If it were Latin it would be "proxisolis". It's not Latin.. Becky. :)

@tonyelsom6382 4 года назад

Who cares?..certainly not me 👍

@fazergazer 4 года назад

A rose by any other name Would smell as sweet

@Gpcas9 4 года назад

@calin To celebrate this information I'll open a can of "perri air" for you too ;-)

@Markle2k 4 года назад

@@tonyelsom6382 "Who cares? " Literally every person who uses GPS and cares or wants to know how it actually works. "who cares?" is like saying "who cares that you don't actually project light out from your eyes to illuminate the world?"

@thestonewall30 4 года назад

Einstein just drop the mic on the end of that paper

@DaveRoberts308 4 года назад

Michael Steffan Exactly. “Peace, out, bitches.” 🤣

@pianoraves 3 года назад

One of the biggest f*ng micdrops in history and noone got it. And i still don't get it 100 years later.

@elwoodzmake 3 года назад

@Enter the Bragn’ Spacetime is just a result of Gravity. Frankly, we need it, you know to wake up and stuff...

@elwoodzmake 3 года назад

@Enter the Bragn’ you're not entirely wrong, but you don't understand why, that's the funny part. :D

@jjsamuelgunn1136 3 года назад

Blackhole: Hold my beer

@chrisray1567 4 года назад

Science history is my favorite kind of history. Thanks for taking the time to make these types of videos. I love them!

@Reziac 4 года назад

It's actually a really good way to understand the science, since we get to see it develop from nothing to the where it is today.

@Reziac 4 года назад

No, not much patience for reading about it, would rather see it like this. But sounds like a good book, I'll keep an eye out for it, thanks.

@chrisray1567 4 года назад

@4one14 I have read it. Actually, I think I listened to it as an audio book. Either way, it was excellent and is a book that I often recommend to others as well.

@ejmtv3 3 года назад

except the science history of Medicine which is a very dark and scary journey

@jwaustinmunguy 2 года назад

I love astrophysics but how can it be better than the ncessant beheading of kings and queens in English history?

@craigfowler7098 10 месяцев назад

Shows what a genius Einstein was. Very interesting and detailed overview of his theory and first proof.

@murasaki848 Год назад

16:21 For the younger viewers, the song she's singing is "Where You Lead" by Carole King, from her Tapestry album (1971). Carole King was an awesome songwriter, and that album won 4 Grammys including Album of the Year, as well as going 14x platinum by selling 30 million copies and having covers done by other singers such as James Taylor ("You've Got a Friend") that also charted, some that were released previously but Carole King co-wrote (Shirelles "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow").

@Fenristhegreat 4 года назад

Nothing could have prepared me for the Avril Lavigne smash cut.

@nathanlewis42 4 года назад

How about a warning that it was coming?

@Fenristhegreat 4 года назад

I wouldn't have believed it.

@xilnes7166 4 года назад

yup but its so avril...

@JDAxonn 4 года назад

Not even reading this comment from the start prepared me for it...

@ChristianStran 4 года назад

Hahahahahahahahahahahah 😂🤣

@jimmarshall2757 4 года назад

Hi Becky, four years ago I had a stroke and lost 54 years of astronomy knowledge, after a lot of work I have regained quite a large amount of it , can I say this has been one of the best tutorials I have listened to in years. Nice clear speech at an easy pace in simple terms. I do have one question, whenever we talk about space-time it is always shown as a funnel in a flat plain, a spherical object in space-time is more like a ball in a block of jelly, it's effect on space-time is more liken to a field around any object with mass. Or have I forgotten something again. Once again, love your talk, more please.

@DrBecky 4 года назад

Jim I’m so glad I could help you reconnect again. All the best for your continued recovery. Your right that all the visualisations we see are in 2D rather than the 3D it should be. I love your metaphor of a block in jelly! Unfortunately representing that with the curvature clearly on a 2D image is very difficult

@jimmarshall2757 4 года назад

Dr. Becky, thank you for your reply, when I started to relearn I started to remember the thing I had learnt at school in the 60s and 70s, I went back to Carolyn Crawford's lectures and lost the plot, I realised most of the thing learnt at school where Newtonian and not Einsteinian,, 😂😂😂 I have so many question on Space-tine, dark matter, dark energy, the expansion of the known Universe. May I contact you when I get stuck or hit a wall. Once again thank you so much for your reply. 👍

@spvillano 2 года назад

@@jimmarshall2757 it'd be much easier to visualize if we had full holographic moving displays. Well, for everyone else, that @#*! cataract would just make me see double... :/ I had the other eye done a while ago, they used an uncoated synthetic lens and now I can actually perceive a fair bit into UV. Although, I did consider holding out for a full body transplant...

@partymetroid Год назад

See "A new way to visualize General Relativity" by ScienceClic English

@dimasgomez Год назад

Man, I will avoid complaining to be lazy or late to studies I lost during the years. If you can go through it all again, also can I learn whatever I haven't yet in this life. You inspire me, sir. 🙏

@carrickrichards2457 Год назад

I've heard this put as "Einstein destroyed the planet 'Vulcan' with just the power of his mind. Le Verrier found Neptune with just the power of his!". I do love how the film 'Einstein and Eddington' shows how the proofs were worked out. It gives Planck his proper credit too. Thank you for bringing this to life

@amasaro70 2 года назад

Dr. Becky is one of those rare astrophysists who are very good at explaining abstract concepts. As a keen follower of astronomy, I find I can almost anticipate her next sentence. For this, I love her.

@BillMSmith 4 года назад

Science science science science science SPIROGRAPH! science science science science science science science science MARSHMALLOWS! science science science... This is why Dr Becky is a great communicator. There's always going to be some fun thrown in.

@davidtoddhoward 4 года назад

Excellent video on Mercury's importance in proving General Relativity.. Really cleared up some details for me. So glad I found your channel.. Thanks so much! 😀

@DrBecky 4 года назад

Glad you enjoyed it Todd 👍

@hjsalvage2 4 года назад

RELATIVITY was created because NO EXPERIMENT EVER DONE WAS ABLE TO PROVE THAT EARTH IS IN MOTION. RELATIVITY IS TOTAL HARRY POTTER 🐂🐂🐂🐂💩💩💩💩🤣🤣. N MERCURY IS ILUMANARY Watch "Stars are NOT what you think they are! Expectation vs. Reality" on RU-vid ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lmBh-WZzjIg.html

@hjsalvage2 4 года назад

Satellites SUPPOSEDLY fly at 17500 or faster. So before a signal could receive or send. It would be out of range. So satellites actually float. Look up satellite falls in farm..an sec. GPS is ground based

@truthislam6481 4 года назад

@@hjsalvage2 Beware of RU-vid science! Oops sorry, Dr. Becky!

@samuelhmullins2170 3 года назад

I like @Dr. Becky too, I'm just not feeling her explanation yet. I simply need to watch other/more teachings, and hope she'll understand. She could almost start a religion, as fine as all that is.

@steveokay8810 3 года назад

This is the first time I feel I've gotten a complete walkthrough of what the whole problem with Mercury and how it was resolved esp. WRT the speed of light. Lots of other pop-science books, videos, TV episodes, etc. always wash over some bit of it and are just like "Oh, there was an error and it couldn't be resolved because Newton was wrong and then along came Einstein and fixed it..." So, thanks for getting in those minor but very important details.

@GameChanger-qi1uo 4 года назад

As much as I love learning from you, your out takes at the end and your singing makes the whole video seem like a perfect circle. Complete!

@clemstevenson 4 года назад

Thanks to Albert Einstein, you now know what time it is when Cambridge arrives at your train.

@oopfpa 4 года назад

I think it will take a lot more than Einstein to predict British Rail service.

@clemstevenson 4 года назад

@@oopfpa You can confidently predict that the result of the experiment will not match with the predicted value.

@labaguette2728 3 года назад

I started traveling close to the speed of light right as this comment was posted. Now, only a few seconds later, I can post my response

@johnkanai4106 3 года назад

Elementary...

@clemstevenson 3 года назад

@@johnkanai4106 Times they are a-changing :-)

@toddarmstrong1167 Год назад

I have told you before how much I love your videos and your singing. Can't wait for the album.

@nicholashuff4198 Год назад

Your whimsical attention to accurate articulation is adorable. 😘

@danieloneal7137 4 года назад

I do love the old-timey headlines ... “Men of science more or less agog”

@steve1978ger 4 года назад

LIGHTS ALL ASKEW IN THE HEAVENS But Nobody Need Worry. This made me think of H.P. Lovecraft and it's actually the period where he came up with his "cosmic horrors".

@TheFeltbegone 4 года назад

For as many times that I've heard Mercury's orbit mentioned in relation to relativity, this is the first time I have seen that extra term mentioned. Also, I have heard of gravity and speed affecting GPS, but had not heard it explained as a gravitational red shift. Super clear and interesting. Thank you for that.

@AthAthanasius 4 года назад

Whilst this gravitational redhsift will indeed be affecting the signals from the satellites (Becky made an oops in saying GPS devices ping the satellites, they don't, they're just passive listeners), I thought the major reason that General Relativity has to be taken into account is that the clocks on the satellites will run it a faster rate than those down here on Earth (as we're deeper in the gravitational well so experience some GR time dilation). Of course the satellites are also orbiting at a relatively high speed so a experience a little *Special* Relitavistic time dilation as well, but it's less than the inverse effect from GR time dilation so they do run faster. There's a neat graph of the combination of these two effects on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_time_dilation#Experimental_confirmation

@MrLaptopus 4 года назад

@@AthAthanasius Wrong on both counts

@colinp2238 4 года назад

@@AthAthanasius Wiki states that it is not an accurate site and is open to amendments.

@camurgo 4 года назад

Just found your channel. Loved it instantly. Everything so well explained! Keep up the good work!

@ozzymandius666 4 года назад

Very well done, just one little pedagogic point: Scientific theories are not proven, they simply become theories by virtue of predicting experimental results, before which they are only hypotheses. Scientific theories can only be proven wrong, or to be approximations of reality.

@Joe-pz7cg 4 года назад

I just stumbled onto your channel and I love it! If I can make a request, can you do a video on the lagrange points? I can find a few that describe where they are and that L4 and L5 are stable, but not why. I know very basic orbital mechanics (thank you kerbal space program) and I'm not seeing the math. Please don't stop making videos. 🤩

@keppela1 4 года назад

Thanks! Getting clear on the connection between Mercury's orbit and gen. relativity has been on my bucket list for years!

@JustMeinYoutube 4 года назад

Seems RU-vid has improved its recommendations algorithm! I just subscribed! Thank you Dr. Becky for your excellent videos! And you sing beautifully as well 🙂

@jimarnn1938 3 года назад

Loved the bit at the end of you checking your pronunciation, facts etc. Makes you very ralatable! I also love the enthusiasm in your presentations... doesn't seem like you have to rehearse that bit at all!

@TheDisabledGamersChannel 4 года назад

You should have a singing channel as well, you've got such a lovely voice.

@jacksonstarky8288 4 года назад

I was thinking something similar. I love the singing outtakes. I think Dr. Becky should record some astronomy / cosmology songs.

@TheDisabledGamersChannel 4 года назад

@@jacksonstarky8288 That'd be pretty cool.

@PixelatedPenfold 3 года назад

@@jacksonstarky8288 How about the Monty Python Galaxy Song? Even Stephen Hawking covered that one.

@jacksonstarky8288 3 года назад

@@PixelatedPenfold Yes!

@pokalorentz9363 3 года назад

Dr Beckey could take some inspiration from Sabine Hossenfelder. She's a quantum physicist with her own singing channel

@Dappdude 4 года назад

I've never heard this problem explained so well, great video Becky!

@herblapp 4 года назад

Today she is the best popularist of astronomy and keeps getting better.

@cortster12 4 года назад

I honestly found it a bit confusing. I still don't understand the physical phenomena that causes it to happen, just the math behind it. What about curving space makes this different?

@YouTuber-mc2el 9 месяцев назад

I understood all that you said...every word with complete clarity. I enjoyed the depth at which you took the subject. The presentation you put forth was exceptional without fault. No stumbling, no uhhs, no noticeable tripping of any kind. Very well Done. Then you had to include the edits and burst my bubble LOL.Thank you very much.

@dawienel1142 Год назад

Been watching your videos for quite some time and I just have to say you're amazing, keep doing what you are doing, and keep the singing and blurps at the end. God Bless :-)

@timothymarchant9079 4 года назад

Thanks Becky. I've been grappling with flat earthers so I came here to restabilise my sanity. :)

@JLukeHypernova 4 года назад

It's best to just not even engage them.

@nathanlewis42 4 года назад

@@JLukeHypernova I find that sending them images of satellite dishes and asking if they have ever seen one works pretty well. They don't have a comeback that can't easily be knocked down and in my experience they tend to go quiet after that.

@302Diane 4 года назад

@@nathanlewis42 You seem to have encountered remarkably submissive flat-Earthers. In my experience, they never go quiet.

@nathanlewis42 4 года назад

Diane Miller maybe but try sending them a link to pictures of satellite dishes and ask if they have ever seen them on houses. Only one replied and said high altitude balloons and I pointed out that balloons move with the wind so the dishes wouldn’t have to move all around. I never heard back after that.

@robertb7293 4 года назад

/Pretending that someone totally tagged me in for trolling flerfers. They tend to get reduced to butt hurt mumbling quick enough if you can deconstruct the uses they have for their beliefs. Not easy, but I've deconverted a few. So yeah. It's possible. Did you know that you can track latitude, and locate the Earths poles, just by measuring the shadows on the moon? Turns out that someone who can locate their position on Earth, in the dark, without equipment is a pretty impressive flex to a person who can't operate a sheet of paper. The real challenge is to finish the demonstration before they block you.

@AdamBurstein 3 года назад

Love your videos. Thanks so much for doing them and for making physics accessible to the masses.

@madhavsharma6643 2 года назад

thanks dr. becky the way you explain and carry the video on and the images and gifs you show and how u explain really are a sign of a pro. I haven't really found a channel like yours where a PhD explains physics like that detailed

@ronakpathak8376 Год назад

A very thorough video and very easy to follow explanation. Enjoyed watching it!

@danaborgman8526 4 года назад

I love these videos! You get all the interesting stories without having to memorize everything for an exam afterwards!

@roblouw1344 4 года назад

Dr Becky, I have only just viewed this excellent video. As you mentioned the clocks on the GPS satellites run faster than those on earth because of the reduced effects of gravity at their altitude. Special relativity also has a role to play. Because the satellites are travelling so fast their clocks run slower relative to us on earth. The general relativistic effect is however greater than the special relativistic effect. So the net result is that the satellite clocks are still running fast than clocks on earth.

@StinkyCashFlatEarth 2 года назад

Tell me your brainwashed without telling me you’re brainwashed

@WilliamAndySmith-Romaq 2 года назад

I recall seeing a page somewhere that explained in Layman's terms the interplay between "clocks on earth appear faster because of the gravity well" vs "clocks in the GPS fleet appear faster relative to clocks on earth because of their speed of travel in orbit". I recall reading the two effects "not quite cancel one another out, but close." I don't recall the gravitational redshift on the signals themselves even being considered. This "interplay of effects on GPS" seems like something that Dr. Becky might do as a follow up episode. I wish I could locate that link I read.

@AndreSomers 2 года назад

Her explanation was also wrong in the sense that phones or other receivers don’t ping the satellites. They just, well, receive the signals the satellites are emitting constantly.

@WilliamAndySmith-Romaq 2 года назад

@@AndreSomers Yup... She mentioned that fairly quickly in the comments.

@AndreSomers 2 года назад

@@WilliamAndySmith-Romaq oh, sorry, missed that comment.

@ZoltanF1LH 4 года назад

I loved your vids on 60symbols, I'm glad I found your channel! 😊

@GaryWrightUtah 3 года назад

I always love the bloopers at the end. Even if I don't understand all the other stuff real well, I get a laugh at your bloopers ... your awesome.

@mcnultyssobercompanion6372 4 года назад

Another really great, informative video. Lovely work. I am once again *a little* smarter than I was 15 minutes ago. Thank you. :)

@coeur8042 3 года назад

Intelligence has nothing to do with information!

@jacobvandijk6525 4 года назад

Very well done, Becky! Lovely presentation. I like the enthousiastic look in your eyes. Just great! By the way, you are the first English speaking person on RU-vid who pronounces Schwarzschild correctly ;-)

@RogerRosenquist 4 года назад

OK, I'm hooked. Enjoyed the random text overlays and out-takes.

@mikesnyder1788 Год назад

I have read several accounts of Einstein and his Mercury fixation and, now, finally, I kinda sorta understand! Thanks, Dr. Becky for yet another clear explanation on a complicated point of physics. Love your work!!!

@sethsims7414 4 года назад

GPS receivers only listen. The satellites are screaming out what time their extremely accurate clocks say it is. The receiver compares all the times it's hearing to get the distance. It actually needs a minimum of 4 satellite locks, it's solving for x,y,z and the actual time where it is. That's why GPS receivers are some of the best clocks an average person can use. They are listening to atomic clocks orbiting above our heads.

@AthAthanasius 4 года назад

They 'scream out' both their idea of the current time *and* their position. Part of the maintenance of the GPS system is keeping very precise track of where each satellite is so it can be told this to pass it on. In an apocalypse scenario the GPS system would degrade. I've no idea just how quickly, but suspect that after a few decades it would likely be unusable for positioning (but would still be a good time source). That's assuming satellites would still be active of course. I've not looked at the details, but there's likely some scary looking math that allows a GPS receiver to take all the time signals it receives to work out a good idea of the current time to then compare to each sender to actually work out the position. You don't have an atomic clock in your smartphone after all.

@sethsims7414 4 года назад

@@AthAthanasius yea I didn't mention the ephemeris (though I can't spell that word without looking it up), if we're really being specific the satellites mostly scream TICK, TICK, TICK, and only transmit the full time every few seconds, and their tracks every so often. The ground tracking stations update the GPS's ephemeris data pretty often from what I remember. Though I don't know either how long you could trust them without the update. The trilateration math wouldn't be that bad if you could trust the ranges you get from the signals. But there's a lot of sources of noise as they move through the atmosphere and bounce off buildings. A lot of the complexity is trying to correct for those errors. I heard the next round of GPS is going to be using multiple frequencies to allow the biggest source of error from the atmosphere to be measured and corrected. I think the projections are that we can get something like centimeter accuracy from the new system. You can do that with the current system if you have two close by GPS receivers. One isn't moving and it transmits corrections to the signals knowing that it isn't moving.

@kingblondie7075 4 года назад

@@AthAthanasius some of them scream out "I am in great pain, please help"

@quamrana 4 года назад

They may be screaming out the time, but down here it is a whisper in a hurricane!

@anssihakkarainen5726 4 года назад

@@sethsims7414 They scream Pseudo Random Noise...

@graphosxp 4 года назад

"In Space, No One Can Hear You...." Sing!

@marcuschauvin7039 4 года назад

No one can smell your farts either!

@ChrisPage68 4 года назад

@@marcuschauvin7039 Soace smells like burnt toast, apparently.

@graphosxp 4 года назад

@@marcuschauvin7039 Huh? Gas CAN travel through space. In fact if you have enough flatulence filling a volume of outer space it will carry sound waves. Let's compare! "Earth's atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.03% carbon dioxide with very small percentages of other elements." "A typical breakdown of the chemical composition of farts is: Nitrogen: 20-90% Hydrogen: 0-50% (flammable) Carbon dioxide: 10-30% Oxygen: 0-10% Methane: 0-10% (flammable)" "What Is a Fart Made Of?" : www.thoughtco.com/chemical-composition-of-farts-608409

@ZeedijkMike 4 года назад

@@marcuschauvin7039 : Professor Farnsworth have made a "Smelloscope" (-:

@CaptWesStarwind 4 года назад

I want to like this comment, but since it currently has 42 likes, I'll wait.

@tarlach1280x960 4 года назад

I simply love your videos... eloquent explained.

@SG-op6nc Год назад

Awesome explanation. So clear and concise. Well done Dr. Becky 👏

@olly5764 4 года назад

looked up the Marshmallow in a microwave experiment, WOW, that's straight forward, I'll be trying that with my friend's twin sons in a couple of years!

@LeutnantJoker 4 года назад

Wow, Vulcan is a lot closer than I always thought it was... ;)

@jaygee6738 3 года назад

IGNORE THOSE IDIOTS!!!

@Wacoal34d Год назад

Love your lively and informative videos Becky! You are a breath of fresh air in this otherwise stodgy area.

@soumyadeepganguly3637 2 года назад

Really enjoyed the explanation mam! recently discovered your channel, have already fallen in love!!!!🥰

@MuMuKuh 4 года назад

"The Hunt for Vulcan" is a great read on everything covered in this Video

@SigEpBlue 4 года назад

Missing the obligatory Spock when you mentioned Vulcan. ;)

@ChrisPage68 4 года назад

Highly illogical, Captain.

@ryanbrewer4785 4 года назад

@@ChrisPage68 thumbs up

@danuttall 4 года назад

That fictional Vulcan around another star was named after the imaginary Vulcan around our star.

@bottlekruiser 4 года назад

Live long and prosper

@JimWarp93 4 года назад

And I missed the fitting Back to the Future snippet

@xilnes7166 4 года назад

in all other 500 billion universes your a singer... just this one we are so lucky to learn stuff from someone so awesome like you....

@billoetjen 4 года назад

This pushes all the other presentations back. Most excellent.

@essaboselin5252 4 года назад

This mathematician will forgive your "divide by infinity" comment just because of the cute Pluto crying image. It'll always be a planet in my heart.

@Restilia_ch 4 года назад

Don't evict Sailor Pluto!

@huverdoose 4 года назад

Dwarf planets are planets also, and deserve the same rights and respect afforded to other planets.

@essaboselin5252 4 года назад

@@huverdoose I wonder if professional astronomers know they're fighting an uphill battle with the general public over Pluto? It's wild how attached people are to the idea that it is a planet. It's not like anyone has ever visited it; it's not like you can spot it with the naked eye (or even a cheap home telescope.) I do agree with Dr. Becky's colleague, Dr. Merrifield, that it's a bit moot how you classify it. Nothing about Pluto has changed because of the new designation. And astronomy is known for some vague definitions - planemos anyone? Having said all that: Cleared orbit, schmeared orbit! Pluto is a planet! :-)

@huverdoose 4 года назад

@@essaboselin5252 I live about a half hour from Clyde Tombaugh's hometown, so nearly everyone in my area takes it personally. I don't, but it's sometimes fun to pretend.

@cristiangamboa2037 4 года назад

Thanks a lot for this video, I tired of pseudo astrologist trying to tell me how Mercury will affect my life. Finally someone tells me something rational about it.

@hareecionelson5875 4 года назад

Aren't all astrologers pseudo-astrologers? Astronomer or astrophysicist is the scientific name. Astrology is woo woo

@cristiangamboa2037 4 года назад

@@hareecionelson5875 Astrology is pure ignorance, that why I appreciate when someone says something about Mercury's orbit that is based on science.

@jeffwells1255 3 года назад

The practice of astrology should be treated as the obvious fraud that it is and treated as such by the legal system. While we're at it we should include as many other frauds in there, such as homeopathy and especially religion!

@Varma414 3 года назад

Today is Friday and this is the first Video I am watching and starting my day. I appreciate Your time and work Dr. Smethurst. Keep on going with speed of light(AU)🤩

@ronaldbucchino1086 3 года назад

Clear explanation -- and -- you have a lovely singing voice. Thank You

@rylian21 4 года назад

I love this stuff. I'm a layman, so while the specific math eludes me, I can grasp the concepts when they're explained to me so well.

@fredb2022 2 года назад

Ditto. The equations do not speak to me any more than if the text was presented in Latin or Greek.

@NewGoldStandard 4 года назад

Great video, thanks. I'm always fascinated with the real-world applications for general relativity. It makes something that would otherwise be very abstract more concrete.

@michatarnowski580 Месяц назад

A very good video; very informed and gap-filling. The only thing I miss here is a brief summary at the end, e.g. with a timeline: 1. Le Verrier observes Mercury's precession (A) of the perihelion and predicts Vulcan; 2. Einstein predicts the gravitational redshift (B); 3. Einstein predicts the bending of starlight (C); 4. Einstein explains Mercury's oribt (A); 5. Schwarzschild explains it more precisely (A); 6. Eddington observes the bending of starlight, making Einstein famous (C); 7. D.M. Popper observes the gravitational redshift (B); 8. General Relativity is applied to GPS. I would also love to know if this effect has been predicted or observed for other objects as well.

@mohanpathak 3 года назад

So useful and so full of knowledge. There's so much to learn here. Thanks for creating this video!

@jimr8552 4 года назад

Can you imagine just how far Einstein could have gone if he had the technology of today?

@dach829 4 года назад

@NowTV how so?

@wishusknight3009 4 года назад

@@dach829 Because NowTV is a flatard.

@jeffwells1255 3 года назад

I present to you Professor Stephen Hawking.

@rainrope5069 4 года назад

11:36 Cliff Stoll is an astronomer too, I feel like he'll be kinder than the math professors

@LeoStaley 4 года назад

Cliff stoll is earth's greatest treasure.

@irrelevant_noob 3 года назад

And anyway she's not really wrong... Dividing any finite number by infinity can give NO OTHER RESULT than zero. It's not a singularity, not even an undefined term. The only caveat would be if the value would be merely "NEAR-infinite" and not an "actual" infinity, but that's really not worth griping about. :-B

@ronanokennedy8592 Год назад

Great video Becky. especially the paraphrase "because Physics".. Also great singing voice - Expecting single out next year Becky (Vocals), Brain Cox (Keyboards) Brian May (Guitar)

@Mrmohit2711 4 года назад

Thank you...that mercury part was so educative...looking forward to more such content

@Tanis161 4 года назад

Have you ever considered doing Star Talk with Neil? I would love to hear you two blow our minds.

@herblapp 4 года назад

Maybe Becky has. But l'd suspect he wouldn't since he'd benout classed and certainly out shined!!

@jeffwells1255 3 года назад

@@herblapp Oh, I doubt that Dr Tyson's ego would be the least bit threatened by that since he loves a challenge and is no kind of an egomaniac anyway, although some might think so due to his enthusiasm.

@LA-MJ 4 года назад

GPS is passive. No pings are sent by our devices.

@e1123581321345589144 4 года назад

How it works is that the satellites constantly broadcast their id and time, and given the known orbital characteristics the SW on the reviving device is capable of calculating it's location based on those parameters. note: due to it's highly acurate clocks GPS is used by a lot of institutions for time keeping as well.

@jursamaj 4 года назад

I came looking for this comment. I'm amazed how few people seem to have caught that mistake. @@e1123581321345589144 Interestingly, LORAN, the predecessor of GPS was also used for time. For the same reason: it's a highly accurate clock system.

@Set_Get 3 года назад

No, not by our devices, but apparently, each GPS satellite gets frequently updated/fed (their correct position, correct time,...) from the station located in northern US.

@Leap_of_Faithhh 3 года назад

You are so much fun to watch and to listen to. Thank you! ❤️🙏

@sagsgalaxia7627 3 года назад

Wow your energy while describing it. Amazing. Thanks for explaining it so clearly.

@denomsolis4171 4 года назад

Ooooh you have a lovely singing voice ! :D

@Hal2718 4 года назад

And as it turns out, Mercury is most often the closest planet to Earth... and every other planet.

@DrBecky 4 года назад

Yes! I loved that recent video by CGP Grey

@feynstein1004 4 года назад

We're top chicken

@TommentSection 4 года назад

Not quite, actually. It is on average the closest to every other planet in the Solar System, but it is most often the closest only for the inner planets :)

@Hal2718 4 года назад

@@TommentSection No, it's true for the outer planets also. Usually, they're *vastly* farther away from each other than they are each from the sun therefore, Mercury will most often be the closest.

@TommentSection 4 года назад

@@Hal2718 But the question of which is closest at any given time is highly dependent on which objects are considered. As we go farther out, more planets get in the way so that it become increasingly rare for Mercury to ever be closest. Watch CGPGrey's follow up video on it. He shows the numbers.

@freeflycoffey 2 года назад

Love your work Dr. Becky. Keep it up 😎

@Skukkix23 4 года назад

Schwarzschild pronounciation is almost right, but the "i" is the same as in "build".

@stuartajc8141 4 года назад

Ironically it is "pronunciation" - the way a word is pronounced

@Skukkix23 4 года назад

@@stuartajc8141 wow. And I thought German was hard, at least we have continuous rules

@stuartajc8141 4 года назад

@@Skukkix23 English is crazy like that

@elevown 4 года назад

@@stuartajc8141 English just proffers to go with 'whatever' lol. Its a case of just learning each one that differs as you come across them.

@fazergazer 4 года назад

Skukkix23 most Germans prefer non-native speakers to pronounce German words in whichever regional specific language phonemes that speaker uses. So it is actually preferable to anglicize the German -child. Otherwise it is considered rude or creepy.

@luudest 4 года назад

9:40 Does this extra term explain a „new“ physical process in comparison with the Newtonian model? What is the physical explanation of this term???

@sleepy314 4 года назад

Game Changer _ yes, curved spacetime

@mursie100 4 года назад

It's just that the closer you get to the gravitational center of a massive object, the less gravity acts like a force, and more like a curvature/stretching of the fabric of space around that object. You know how they say that if our sun instantly turned into a back hole, planetary orbits will not be affected... But if you decide to keep getting closer and closer to that black hole, space-time will get stretched deeper and deeper until it's infinitely stretched into a gravitational well. That "deeper" stretching of space-time as you get closer to a massive object's gravitational center, is what that "extra term" explains.

@Shenron557 4 года назад

Dimensional analysis on the term does not give the dimensions of Force, Potential or Acceleration. It gives [length]^(-2), which is m^(-2) in SI units. I'm not aware of any physical quantity with those dimensions.

@zoltankurti 4 года назад

@@Shenron557 curvature is 1/length^2.

@luudest 4 года назад

mursie100 how does the „deeper stretching“ lead to the mercury perihelion precession?

@adbell3364 2 года назад

Thank you for this! Believe or not, this question has haunted me for years....yes, really! "How is Mercury's orbit affected by General Relativity?" Your explanation has satisfied my curiosity. Thank you!

@user-li7ec3fg6h Год назад

Hi doc becky, you did a great job explaining that. Many, many thanks! Once again! And on top of that so charming as always. Looking forward to more such good explanations! (Showing the little mistakes with the shots at the end are great too. I think it's so great that all this is not a problem, because it's about more important things and the human is just part of us. Scientists and spacenerds show us again and again how much is feasible if we leave out the destructive and divisive stuff :-). All the best from Berlin, Germany

@glutinousmaximus 4 года назад

... Perhaps the title might be a little more accurate with "How does Mercury _fail to disprove_ General Relativity". (You know what I mean :0) Another good presentation Dr Becky! Thanks.

@rbettsx 4 года назад

This is not mere pedantry. It's at the heart of the scientific method. It always shocks me when even quite prominent scientists refer to 'proof' of theories. Einstein's theory is no more proved than Newton's, or Copernicus'. Guilty scientists should be made to sit in a corner and and read their Popper.

@RealLifeKyurem 4 года назад

Rob42077 Hahaha, then you should stop using GPSs then or any positioning or realtime mapping systems for that matter (Google maps, Waze, etc.)

@paulthompson9668 4 года назад

11:22 When x *equals* infinity, then anything divided by x *equals* zero. When x *tends to* infinity, then anything divided by x *tends to* zero.

@jameswood5357 4 года назад

You can't divide by infinity idiot, y/(infinity) is undefined, not 0.

@302Diane 4 года назад

Also, infinity isn't a number. You can't add it, multiply by it, or anything like that.

@paulthompson9668 4 года назад

@@jameswood5357 So you're a communist?

@paulthompson9668 4 года назад

@@302Diane At least you're respectful about your post. I was referring to infinity as a concept, which may be subjected to certain algebraic operations for example in nonstandard analysis.

@fredb2022 2 года назад

Nicely done, Doctor. Appreciate the presentation (without the equations).

@miroslavmaklenov7022 2 года назад

i love your videos! you make learning physics fun. When i heard your singing voice i thought wow she knows how to sing too not just physics and astronomy. multi talented

@diondixon3349 4 года назад

You said that GPS triangulates, but it actually uses trilateration. :-)

@AthAthanasius 4 года назад

Indeed. For those unaware, triangulatation use angles between things, which wouldn't be known in this case. Trilateration uses the distances from each known point to your position to work out your position.

@tectzas 4 года назад

@@AthAthanasius I though the difference was that triangulation uses angles to pinpoint things on a 2D plane, whereas trilateration adds a 3rd dimension being height as well. Furthermore, the former uses literal triangles with a minimum of three points and the ladder uses at least 4 points with overlapping spheres. So where the spheres overlap is where you would be located. That being said you'd actually have two points where all spheres overlap but one of them is out in space so you can assume that's not where you are lol

@JuanDomenech 4 года назад

that "why should I care" song really woke me up... and my neighbours 😅

@bozimsaho5590 2 года назад

love you becky trying to explain relativity it's so hard

@papalexo 9 дней назад

Your videos are great! Science brilliantly explained! Just a small correction, at 3:52: perihelion comes from ancient Greek: "peri"=close & "helios"=sun

@themeatpopsicle 4 года назад

"Stars Not Where They Seemed or Were Calculated to be, but Nobody Need Worry" is my next tattoo

@johngolombek61 4 года назад

ok its official Dr. Becky and Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson my favorites for everything space and science. Cheers from cross the pond.

@LeutnantJoker 4 года назад

Meh, these days Tyson loves the camera and hearing himself talking a bit too much for my taste. There's smarter scientists out there that are less in love with the camera and a bit more professional.

@JoeDeglman 4 года назад

Both of them are my favorite sci-fi sources. Definitely since that sci-fi great Hawking passed away.

@swirvinbirds1971 4 года назад

@@LeutnantJoker I think Tyson gets a little too much hate. The guy has a good sense of humor and does a good job of bringing science to the masses. Is he right about everything? No... But show me someone who is.

@gregbrockway4452 4 года назад

John Golombek-You should check out: Isaac Arthur John Michael Godier Astrum Anton Petrov Scott Manley These are all most excellent science and astronomy RU-vid channels.

@tonyelsom6382 4 года назад

@@gregbrockway4452 Yes, spot on..no hate against NDT, just not my cuppa..

@profphilbell2075 2 года назад

Beautiful presentation

@HebaruSan 4 года назад

3:50 - I cringe every time a diagram like this shows the "perihelion" farther away than the points 90 degrees around the orbit on the semiminor axis. It's odd how rarely astronomers apparently look at actual orbits.

@danieljensen2626 4 года назад

Maybe this is a projection from like 45 degrees above the orbital plane instead of a true top down view. But more realistically whoever the word "perihelion" is pretty long so they scooted the sun out of the actual focus of the ellipse to make the diagram "look nicer".

@atanasiomugambi7975 4 года назад

Just realized that mistake is made in almost all illustrations I have seen. Thanks. You are the modern einstein.

@mawage666 4 года назад

It's just an exaggeration.

@valeriobertoncello1809 4 года назад

Why wouldn't you complain about the relative sizes of Mercury and the sun then?

@BlueEyesWhiteTeddy 2 года назад

@@valeriobertoncello1809 because if mercury is a good size then the sun is too big to properly get an orbit around it and if the sun is a good size then mercury is way too small. It cannot be done. But having the perihelion as the smallest distance from the sun can be done.

@terralakins7565 4 года назад

I'm betting that the five "thumbs down" are all mathematicians. Lol. The rest of us still think you're awsome @drbecky

@Richardj410 4 года назад

I think it is flatties who don't believe that space exists.

@goprojoe7449 4 года назад

She simply doesn't know what she's talking about. I'm just an engineer educated in physics, and I can see that she does not have a PhD in her field.

@302Diane 4 года назад

@@goprojoe7449 OK. I know I'm going to hate myself for asking, but what do you think she got wrong?

@potawatomi100 3 года назад

Excellent video and you are a very good “explainer”. Well narrated.

@theheadscout4356 3 года назад

Thanks for sharing it so enthusiastically. Inspirational!

@myothersoul1953 4 года назад

7:40 Wait!! You're trying to tell me Spock comes from a planet the orbits closer to the sun than Mercury?

@myothersoul1953 4 года назад

@CipiRipi00 Oh I see, that makes sense.

@simongleaden2864 4 года назад

Scientific theories cannot be proved, but they can be confirmed. One can only disprove a theory.

@dpsamu2000 4 года назад

Observations not theories are confirmed by peers capable of taking the same steps an observer claimed he took to observe what he claims to observe. Theories are arguments that are convincing or not to peers capable of understanding them based on the quality of the observations supporting them. Only disproved by observation that doesn't match consequences predicted by theory.

@iplanes1 4 года назад

I did know some of the history of Mercury's orbit and this expanded that knowledge so well done and thank you. What I do find worrying however, is in the last couple of minutes of the video Dr Becky asks the question "Why should you care?". I find it very worrying that increasingly the pursuit of knowledge that may not have direct everyday profit making use has to be justified. Being inquisitive for the sake of it is one of the most important characteristics of freedom of thought. When society expects you to justify your out of the usual run of things thinking we are on a downward path. I was talking to a primary school teacher the other day who asked the question "Why do we teach square roots and some of this other maths because you will never use it" (Silent scream from me)

@Nabiry 3 года назад

Really awesome video, and very well explained. Thank you 👌

@joeb8248 4 года назад

That music clip was so loud! Please equalize the volume.

@cowboyfrankspersonalvideos8869 4 года назад

"Because, physics is everything"

@feynstein1004 4 года назад

Yay Fermilab reference :)

@jamesoliver6625 4 года назад

Rein up cowboy - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3vnjNbe5lyE.html

@SharpAssKnittingNeedles Год назад

Awesome video Becky! Have to chime in as a geology nerd though - GPS is a trilateration technique, not triangulation. One of my profs beat that into us almost literally 😅