Why nothing about acceleration?

In summary, Accelerated motion is covered in some undergraduate textbooks, but it's not typically covered because it's not a common phenomenon.
  • #1
ShayanJ
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I read in the book the elegant universe,that Einstein first saw riemannian geometry in accelerated motion and then,because of the equivalence principle,he proposed the GR model for gravity.So why there is nothing about accelerated motion in the books explaining GR?
thanks
 
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  • #2
Shyan said:
I read in the book the elegant universe,that Einstein first saw riemannian geometry in accelerated motion and then,because of the equivalence principle,he proposed the GR model for gravity.So why there is nothing about accelerated motion in the books explaining GR?
thanks
I think you got the events mixed up, first Einstein thought of the equivalence principle, then he tried to develop GR, only after help from others who introduced him to Riemannian geometry he eventually succeeded.
 
  • #3
Ok.I was historically wrong.
But from Ehrenfest paradox,you can understand that also accelerated motion has to do with riemannian geometry.I just want to know why there is nothing about that no where?Or if I'm wrong,what's my problem?
thanks
 
  • #4
One of Rindler's relativity books has some treatment of accelerated motion (I forget the title). MTW''s treatment in "Gravitation" is better, though. MTW"s treatment does use tensors.

I'm not sure why it's not in more books, offhand, but you can find treatents of acclerated motion in textbooks if you look at the right textbooks.

For just the bare results, the sci.physics.faq has the "relativistic rocket equation".

http://www.desy.de/user/projects/Physics/Relativity/SR/rocket.html
 
  • #5
Here are some more.

“Special Relativity” by A.P. French (1966) has a section “accelerated motion” in its chapter on kinematics.

“Basic Relativity” by Richard A. Mould (1994) has a whole chapter on “Uniform Acceleration” where the hyperbolic transformations used in pervect’s reference are derived.

But to agree with pervect, typical undergraduate textbooks don't even mention acceleration. Why? Don't know.
 

FAQ: Why nothing about acceleration?

Why is acceleration important in science?

Acceleration is important in science because it is a fundamental concept in physics that helps us understand how an object's velocity changes over time. It is also used to describe the motion of objects in various scientific fields such as mechanics, astronomy, and engineering.

How is acceleration different from velocity?

Acceleration is a measure of how an object's velocity changes over time, while velocity is the rate of change of an object's position over time. In other words, acceleration describes how fast an object's speed is changing, while velocity describes how fast an object is moving in a particular direction.

What causes acceleration?

Acceleration is caused by a net force acting on an object. This force can come from various sources such as gravity, friction, or applied force. The direction of the acceleration is determined by the direction of the net force.

How is acceleration measured?

Acceleration is measured in units of distance per time squared, such as meters per second squared (m/s^2). It can be calculated by dividing the change in velocity by the change in time, or by using a device such as an accelerometer to directly measure the acceleration of an object.

Why is the acceleration due to gravity constant?

The acceleration due to gravity is constant because the force of gravity is proportional to the mass of an object and the distance between two objects. This means that regardless of the mass of an object, it will experience the same acceleration due to gravity. On Earth, this value is approximately 9.8 m/s^2.

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