[TheForge] Michelson's and Morley's experiment

Sun Feb 22 18:28:00 2004

I had not heard of scientists redoing the M&M experiment. It's hard to
believe that someone wants to prove that aether exists. The M&M experiment
was done more than once. The final, definitive one had the whole
experimental apparatus floating on a pool of Hg. One does the M&M experiment
in some intermediate physics' labs although not floating on Hg.

Mark
Snow Hill, Maryland
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Daniel Kretchmar" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 8:44 AM
Subject: [TheForge] Michelson's and Morley's experiment

>      If we are going to be specific, Michelson's and Morley's experiment
proved
> that they could not detect the aether. Michelson and Morley assumed that
since
> they couldn't detect it's effects, their instrumentation must be faulty.
> Lorentz created his now famous formulae the "Lorentz Transforms" which
> accounted for both the aether and the measured properties of light.  It
was
> Einstein, that showed that it was possible to remove the aether from the
> equations entirely and still get the same predictable, measurable,
results.
> Later interpretations decided that since Michelson and Morley couldn't
detect
> aether's effects, it must not exsist.
>    I heard recently on NPR that some physicists have been conducting
> experiments to prove the exsistance of aether, thinking perhapes that
> Michelson's and Morley's equipment might just not have been sensitive
enough.
> Result of those experiments have yet to come in.
>
> (Its amazing where you finally get to use information from taking a course
> in "The History of Twentieth Century Physics". I have yet to use it in my
> classroom where I teach middle school science :)
>
>
> Daniel Kretchmar
> www.irontreeworks.com
>
> Isn't sanity really just a one trick pony, anyway? I mean, all you get is
one
> trick, rational thinking! But when you're good and crazy.ooh hoo hoo
hoo.the
> sky's the limit!
> The Tick
>
>
> Quoting "[email protected]" <[email protected]>:
>
> > Michelson and Morley demonstrated that ether does not exist when
measuring
> > the speed of light in the steam tunnels under Case Institute of
Technology in
> > Cleveland. They were really trying to prove that the speed of light
changed
> > in air versus in ether by evacuating the steam tunnels and measuring the
> > speed of light in air and then in a vacuum, which they thought would
result
> > in demonstrating the existence of ether.
> >
> > Ray
> >
> >
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