Published 18:07 IST, July 27th 2019
Newton falls, Einstein next?: Scientists dismiss Newton's law of gravity while studying black hole
The apple falling on Newton's head which gave us the famous gravitational law has recently been disproved by scientist researching black holes, according to international news reports. After releasing the world's first picture of a black hole, scientists have undertaken the most comprehensive test of general relativity near the aforementioned black hole.
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The apple falling on Newton's head which gave us the famous gravitational law has recently been disproved by scientist researching black holes, according to international news reports. After releasing the world's first picture of a black hole, scientists have undertaken the most comprehensive test of general relativity near the aforementioned black hole.
This test has ruled out Newton's law of gravity due to incapability to be applied in a black hole, as per Professor Andrea Ghez from the University of California. The scientist has also revealed impending disapproval of Einstein's theory of general relativity.
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"Einstein’s right, at least for now. We can absolutely rule out Newton’s law of gravity. While our observations are consistent with Einstein’s theory of general relativity, his theory is definitely showing vulnerability," said Professor Ghez, in a press conference.
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Detailing how Einstein's theory cannot completely explain the gravity inside a black hole, the scientist added:
“It cannot fully explain gravity inside a black hole, and at some point, we will need to move beyond Einstein’s theory to a more comprehensive theory of gravity that explains what a black hole is.”
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Studying a star S0-2 which orbits the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, scientists have claimed that the particular star is the only one which makes a complete orbit in three dimensions which allow scientists to study the various laws of physics standing the test.
The star's full orbit which takes 16 years around the black hole, which weighs four million times more than the Sun, allows scientists to conduct tests of general relativity, which has ultimately led to Newton's theory's downfall.
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"The laws of physics, including gravity, should be valid everywhere in the universe," said Ghez gravely, leading one to wonder which other physicist's theory will bite the dust.
What is Newton's gravitational law?
Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.
The equation for universal gravitation thus takes the form:
F= G * (m1*m2/r^(2))
where F is the gravitational force acting between two objects, m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects, r is the distance between the centers of their masses, and G is the gravitational constant.
What is Einstein's theory of general relativity?
General relativity generalizes special relativity and refines Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time, or spacetime. The relation is specified by the Einstein field equations, a system of partial differential equations.
17:43 IST, July 27th 2019