Curved Spacetime

Matter tells space how to curve

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Mass curves spacetime. Free objects follow the straightest paths through it.
• GR explained Mercury’s extra 43″ per century of precession.
• Massive objects act as gravitational lenses.

Steps

1. Straightest paths
2. Bending starlight
3. Mercury’s puzzle
4. Gravitational lenses
5. Make an Einstein ring
6. A cosmic magnifying glass