How to Use general relativity in a Sentence

general relativity

noun
  • The purpose of this bold mission would be to test the foundations of physics and general relativity.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 7 Aug. 2025
  • If general relativity is correct, those jiggles have a cookie-cutter form that depends only on each hole’s mass and spin.
    — Matt Von Hippel, Quanta Magazine, 27 Aug. 2025
  • All these topologies share the same geometry, which means general relativity treats them exactly the same.
    — Paul M. Sutter, Scientific American, 27 Mar. 2026
  • But general relativity has a fatal flaw.
    — Quanta Magazine, 3 June 2026
  • The distance is measured to within a few millimeters, enabling strong tests of general relativity.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 May 2026
  • Meanwhile, the binary stars' own orbits also precess due the rules of general relativity.
    — Stefanie Waldek, Space.com, 16 Feb. 2026
  • The result would be an unprecedented test of general relativity around a supermassive black hole.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 21 Feb. 2026
  • All attempts to disprove quantum mechanics and general relativity have failed.
    — Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
  • In standard general relativity, spacetime can bend under the influence of mass and energy.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Einstein’s general relativity explains gravity, black holes, and the motion of massive objects across the universe.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 9 May 2026
  • As the Universe expands, the fabric of space itself stretches, as dictated by general relativity.
    — Big Think, 3 Apr. 2026
  • In general relativity, however, an expanding universe leads you to a very different picture.
    — Big Think, 1 May 2026
  • On one side stands Albert Einstein’s general relativity, describing smooth, large-scale curvature of space-time.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Jan. 2026
  • The modern idea of a Theory of Everything goes back more than 100 years, to the early days of general relativity.
    — Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 9 Sep. 2025
  • The data collected by the probe could, says Bambi, alter scientists’ understanding of general relativity and the rules of physics.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Its mission would be to test the limits of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, published in 1915, which states that mass curves space-time, which in turn tells mass how to move.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • One hundred years ago this month, Albert Einstein published a series of four papers that introduced the theory of general relativity.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The solution came not from Newtonian physics, but general relativity.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 11 Mar. 2026
  • This effect is driven by Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 31 Jan. 2026
  • And yet, dark matter might still be the answer to the puzzle of why the Universe appears to gravitate in this bizarre fashion, unexplainable by normal matter and general relativity on their own.
    — Big Think, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The findings also expand the role of general relativity beyond extreme environments.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 31 Jan. 2026
  • In general relativity, spacetime is a changing, dynamic background.
    — Big Think, 1 May 2026
  • Very simply put, bent starlight from distant galaxies can allow objects passing in front of massive objects to be temporarily magnified and visible, thanks to how general relativity and space-time works.
    — Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 21 Apr. 2026
  • When general relativity came along in 1915, the quantum revolution had already begun.
    — Big Think, 23 Apr. 2026
  • One is through the lens of our theory of gravity, Einstein’s general relativity, and the other is through the lens of the quantum realm of the particles and fields that describe nature, quantum field theory.
    — Big Think, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Perhaps space-time curves differently under these conditions than general relativity predicts.
    — Matt Von Hippel, Quanta Magazine, 27 Aug. 2025
  • The link is because of gravitation, and the fact that within general relativity, the presence and concentration of matter-and-energy determines the curvature of space.
    — Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 24 Sep. 2025
  • According to Einstein’s theory of gravity, known as general relativity, massive, dense celestial objects bend space and time.
    — Chad Hanna, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Yet Albert Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity reveal that space and time are linked into a four-dimensional metric called spacetime.
    — Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025
  • However, general relativity also predicts that when objects accelerate in spacetime, this generates ripples that radiate outward at the speed of light.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 2 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'general relativity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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