File:Michelson_morley_experiment_1887.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Michelson–Morley experiment
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attempt to detect the relative motion of matter through the stationary luminiferous aether
The Michelson-Morley experiment was an attempt to detect whether Earth moves through a stationary substance called the luminiferous aether, which scientists believed filled all of space and carried light waves. The experiment's surprising null result—finding no evidence of this motion—ultimately helped overturn the aether theory and paved the way for Einstein's theory of relativity.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- experimentum crucis
- Named after
- Edward W. Morley
- Main subject
- luminiferous aether
- Image
- Michelson morley experiment 1887.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Michelson-Morley experiment
- point in time
- 1887-00-00
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
Michelson and Morley's interferometric setup, mounted on a stone slab that floats in an annular trough of mercury
The Michelson–Morley experiment was an attempt to measure the motion of the Earth relative to the luminiferous aether, a supposed medium permeating space that was thought to be the carrier of light waves. The experiment was performed between April and July 1887 by American physicists Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and published in November of the same year.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Michelson–Morley experiment” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.