Gravitation and Black Holes for Everybody. A 5-hour introduction to Gravitation and Black Holes for non-physicists with an interest in black holes. Gravitation: weight, acceleration, orbits, and tidal forces, on Earth, the planets, and stars. Why are there two high tides and low tides per day? How to rocket to Mars. Einstein’s General Relativity as applied to planets, stars, and black holes: curved spacetime, gravitational redshift. Could you survive entering a black hole event horizon or would it kill you (and how)? Time travel to the future by orbiting a black hole. When are black holes not black? Do black holes evaporate? What is a quasar? What are gravitational waves? How does a black hole deflect light rays? What is gravitational lensing?
Part 1 of 5.
The lecture notes/script is here:
Playlist for this black holes lecture series is here:
If you would like a spreadsheet to play with, contact me.
Sections in this video:
1. Introduction and approach 4:27
2. Gravitational force and acceleration 8:22
3. Falling from the Leaning Tower of Pisa 18:00
4. Weight 32:54
5. Schwarzchild radius 41:25
