Michelson-Morley experiment

(ˌmaɪkəlsənˈmɔːlɪ)

(General Physics) an experiment first performed in 1887 by A. A. Michelson and E. W. Morley, in which an interferometer was used to attempt to detect a difference in the velocities of light in directions parallel and perpendicular to the earth's motion. The negative result was explained by the special theory of relativity

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Noun

Michelson-Morley experiment - a celebrated experiment conducted by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley; their failure to detect any influence of the earth's motion on the velocity of light was the starting point for Einstein's theory of relativity

experiment, experimentation - the act of conducting a controlled test or investigation

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References in periodicals archive

Following the Michelson-Morley experiment several explanations were provided by other scientists to explain the partial "aether wind" results.

REVISITING THE AETHER IN SCIENCE

This measurement difficulty is evident in the design of the Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887 in which the detection instrument was built to measure not the actual ether but to measure instead the effect of an ether "wind" on the movement of the earth.

Why is "ether" in Ethernet?

The upset started with the Michelson-Morley experiment in 1887.

Dimensions of Apeiron

The Michelson-Morley experiment, which showed that light does not propagate through an ether, gave a result that was unexpected by the physicists of that time.

Psychic experiences are psychological, not parapsychological

In his last years, Michelson, who had performed the fateful Michelson-Morley experiment (see 1887), grew interested in measuring the speed of light with new precision.

Speed of light

Another instrument figured in the famous Michelson-Morley experiment, paving the way for the theory of relativity, and still others were applied to optical testing early in the 20th century.

Build your own interferometer

We shall examine in the following section two reasons for adopting PULC (given PLC), the first based on (a 'weak' version of) the relativity principle, and the second on the outcome of the 1887 Michelson-Morley experiment. Later, in Section 4, we derive the kinematics consistent with this principle (the 'PULC-transformations'), and show that light-speed invariance is now equivalent to the kinematic principle of 'reciprocity'--a result which also follows from the classic 1949 paper by Robertson on experimental kinematics.

Light-speed constancy versus light-speed invariance in the derivation of relativistic kinematics