Why did the Michelson-Morley experiment fail?
Originally Answered: What was the stated purpose of the Michelson – Morley experiment? That experiment was conducted in an attempt to detect Earth’s motion through the Aether. It returned a null result because of the use of mirrors.
Why did Michelson and Morley Orient light beams at right angles to each other?
They reasoned that a beam of light moving parallel to the Earth’s direction of motion through the ether would take a different time to return to the detector than one that moved at right angles to the Earth’s motion.
Does Michelson-Morley experiment show that the ether does not exist or that its is merely unnecessary?
The Michelson–Morley experiment was a scientific experiment to test for the presence and properties of a substance called aether. This was thought hypothetically to fill empty space. The experiment showed the substance did not exist.
What was the conclusion of Michelson-Morley experiment?
The Michelson–Morley experiment is the most famous null experiment in the history of physics. They found that the velocity of the Earth relative to a hypothesized ether was effectively zero. This result refuted virtually all of the then current ether theories.
What was the purpose of Michelson Morley experiment?
Michelson and Morley Experiment : The Michelson-Morley experiment was an attempt to detect the velocity of the Earth with respect to the hypothetical luminiferous ether, a medium in space proposed to carry light waves.
How did the Michelson Morley experiment work?
Michelson reasoned that, if the speed of light were constant with respect to the proposed ether through which Earth was moving, that motion could be detected by comparing the speed of light in the direction of Earth’s motion and the speed of light at right angles to Earth’s motion. …
What was the purpose of the Michelson and Morley experiment?
Michelson-Morley experiment, an attempt to detect the velocity of Earth with respect to the hypothetical luminiferous ether, a medium in space proposed to carry light waves.
What did Michelson and Morley discover?
The Michelson and Morley 1887 Experiment and the Discovery of Absolute Motion. So this experiment detected both absolute motion and the breakdown of Newtonian physics. So far another six experiments have confirmed this first detection of absolute motion in 1887.
How did the Michelson-Morley experiment invalidate the concept of ether?
Therefore the Michelson-Morley disproves the existance of aether understood as the material medium where the light has a relative velocity zero, or what is the same the medium needed for propagating the electromagnetic waves. The idea of the aether is not a fluid interacting with matter in the form that you say.
What was the need of Michelson Morley’s experiment describe it in detail and explain its negative result?
The result was negative, in that Michelson and Morley found no significant difference between the speed of light in the direction of movement through the presumed aether, and the speed at right angles.
What is the importance of Michelson-Morley experiment?
The Michelson-Morley experiment was remarkable in many ways. Not only did it set the stage for Lorentz, Fitzgerald, Poincare, and finally Einstein to establish the mathematical framework that described the propagation of light through space and time, it also marked a turning point for science in the New World.
What was the need of Michelson-Morley experiment describe it in detail and explain its negative results?
What did the Michelson-Morley experiment prove?
The Michelson-Morley experiment The German-born American physicist A.A. Michelson set the early standard for measurements of the speed of light in the late 1870s, determining a speed within 0.02 percent of the modern value. Michelson’s most noteworthy measurements of the speed of light, however, were yet to come.
Why was Michelson’s experiment a failure?
However, these early efforts found no evidence of the Earth’s movement with respect to the ether. Michelson was disappointed by the result and considered the experiment a failure. Nonetheless, he continued his effort to detect the ether when he returned to the United States.
What is Michelson’s interferometer?
Working in Berlin, he invented the device known as the Michelson interferometer. He realized he could use the setup to detect the Earth’s velocity through the ether. The basic design is simple and elegant. A beam of light is split and sent down two perpendicular paths.
What did Albert Einstein discover about the ether?
Then in 1905 Albert Einstein, with his groundbreaking theory of special relativity, abandoned the ether and explained the Michelson-Morley result, though it is uncertain whether Einstein was actually influenced by their experiment.