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Background to, and motivation for the experiment
In 1675 a Danish astronomer by the name of Olaf Romer observed that while the moons of Jupiter orbited at a constant rate. ... In 1887 Albert Michelson and Edward Morley conducted an experiment in attempt to establish the presence of the ether by finding the speed of the earth through it. ...
Galileo’s Sailing-ship experiment showed that two observers in different reference frames, one moving with the ship the other stationary on the shore, detect the same acceleration value for a mass falling from the top of the ship even if the velocity is read differently. ... So to carry out an experiment from different frames of reference, both experiments should have the same results. ...
Thomas Young’s double slit experiment in 1801 showed that light rays could interfere with each other and produce patterns. ...
Method of the experiment
The Michelson-Morley experiment that was performed in 1887 was to detect minute changes in the speed of light. Michelson and Morley used a beam-splitting technique, this device is known as a interferometer. ... Michelson and Morley were looking for changes in this pattern, however there was no change. ... for the experiment V was the rotation of the earth and K was the speed of light relative to the ether. ... Michelson and Morley found that optical phenomena, like mechanical ones, are not affect by the rotation of the apparatus.
Results
The results of the Michelson-Morley experiment were null, which means that they proved their theory incorrect and there is no such thing as ether. ... He proposed that the effect would be less pronounced at higher altitudes, when the experiment was redone on mountains and the results were still null he rejected this proposal.
Approximate Word count = 1405
Approximate Pages = 5.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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