What is the null result of Michelson-Morley experiment?

The Michelson-Morley experiment set out to test whether or not the ether was an absolute reference frame by measuring the speed of light with respect to the moving Earth. However, no such change in velocity of light was observed and this became known as the null result.

How was the Aether disproved?

By the late 1800s, the existence of the aether was being questioned, although there was no physical theory to replace it. The negative outcome of the Michelson–Morley experiment (1887) suggested that the aether did not exist, a finding that was confirmed in subsequent experiments through the 1920s.

What was the aim and conclusion of Michelson-Morley experiment?

The Michelson–Morley experiment is the most famous null experiment in the history of physics. They found that the velocity of the Earth relative to a hypothesized ether was effectively zero. This result refuted virtually all of the then current ether theories.

What did the Michelson-Morley experiment prove?

The Michelson–Morley experiment was a scientific experiment to test for the presence and properties of a substance called aether. This was thought hypothetically to fill empty space. The experiment showed the substance did not exist.

Was the aether disproved?

The theory of relativity didn’t disprove aether, but it provided a simpler explanation that didn’t require an absolute omnipresent medium for the motion of light. Einstein proposed that light traveled at a constant speed through a vacuum, and that everything is moving relative to everything else.

Does the Michelson-Morley experiment show that the ether does not exist or that it is merely unnecessary?

Why did scientists believe in aether?

ether, also spelled aether, also called luminiferous ether, in physics, a theoretical universal substance believed during the 19th century to act as the medium for transmission of electromagnetic waves (e.g., light and X-rays), much as sound waves are transmitted by elastic media such as air.

What are the findings of Michelson Morley experiment?

The experiment performed compared the speed of light to notice the relative motion of Earth through ether. However, the conclusion of the Michelson Morley experiment comes out to be negative. It means that they found no difference between the speed of light while travelling through ether.