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Natural Sciences · Advanced

General Relativity & Black Holes

Einstein's general relativity says gravity isn't a force at all: it's the curvature of space and time. Discover why clocks tick faster on mountains, why GPS needs relativity, how light bends around the Sun, what makes a black hole, how we hear spacetime ripple, why nothing can orbit too close to a black hole, and how black holes slowly evaporate.

7 lessons~35 min0/7 complete
Start courseHelpful background: Special Relativity
1

Gravity Is Geometry

From elevators to curved spacetime.

  1. The Equivalence PrincipleEinstein’s happiest thought
  2. Gravity and TimeWhy GPS needs Einstein
  3. Curved SpacetimeMatter tells space how to curve
2

Extreme Gravity

Black holes and gravitational waves.

  1. Black HolesThe Schwarzschild radius
  2. Gravitational WavesRipples in spacetime
3

Up Close

Orbits at the edge, and black holes that glow.

  1. Orbits Near a Black HoleThe innermost stable orbit
  2. Hawking RadiationBlack holes are not quite black