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Frames of Reference

This document discusses frames of reference in motion and different thought experiments involving relative motion and time dilation according to Einstein's theory of relativity. It provides examples of inertial and non-inertial frames of reference. It also discusses experiments showing that the speed of light is constant and explores the implications of this including time dilation effects for objects moving at relativistic speeds.

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36 views3 pages

Frames of Reference

This document discusses frames of reference in motion and different thought experiments involving relative motion and time dilation according to Einstein's theory of relativity. It provides examples of inertial and non-inertial frames of reference. It also discusses experiments showing that the speed of light is constant and explores the implications of this including time dilation effects for objects moving at relativistic speeds.

Uploaded by

George
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Frames of reference

You are travelling 60km/h in a car and you are thrown a minty
How fast is the driver going compared to you, the passenger?
0 km/h
How fast are you going for a stationary pedestrian?
60km/h
A car behind you is moving at 80km/h. How fast are you for them? Them
for you?
-20km/h and 20km/h
Draw the minties path as seen by the pedestrian

Inertial frames of reference:


Are where the frame is at constant velocity (standing still is constant
velocity too)
Non-inertial Frame of Reference:
Where the frame is accelerating
Eg taking off, going around corners, coming to rest, orbits etc.

The Moons of Jupiter


By the 1600s both clocks and telescopes were advanced enough to know
when the moons would appear and see them accurately.
So it turns out that light has a speed (ie 8 mins sun to earth) this means
a lot of things
Einstein, among his many good thoughts proposed a postulate (no real
evidence, but a logical science based thought) that light travels at the one
speed (ie c=3x10^8 m/s)

Thought experiment 1

Thought experiment 2
A mans son blasts off and goes for a galaxy wide cruise, travelling at
about 0.8c
The dad is 50 and son is 25, and dad thinks hes been gone for 20 years.
Dad now looks every day of 70, how old does the child look?
It has been 20 years on earth
Which frame is stationary? The dads
Which frame is moving? The sons

If c is c is c
If c does not change, and time can stretch this means | v=s/t |

Lv = Lo 1v 2 / c 2
Lv=6.5 \|1 (0.72/12)
= 4.7

tv = 16 to = 2.2

a brave coloniser blasts off in the year 2083 & returns in 2095 averaging
at 0.6c
How much older are the baggage loaders?
12 years
How much older are the colonisers?

Cht 5 - 15, 20, 21, 25

Fast and massive


When an object approaches the speed of light it gets very heavy.

A proton is accelerated to 0.9c, Mo= 1.6x10-27


Not only did the brilliant Einstein see that space and time were the same
mass and energy are the same E=mc2

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