MAXWELL’S THEORY OF

EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF
ELECTROMAGNETISM A GRAND TOUR OF PHYSICS SPECIAL RELATIVITY
ELECTRICITY & MAGNETISM
SPECIAL RELATIVITY

LECTURE 2

MAR. 29, 2019 DR. GEORGE DERISE

1:30 – 3:30 PROFESSOR EMERITUS, MATHEMATICS
TNCC THOMAS NELSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ROOM 328. SPRING 2019
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM

COULOMB’S LAW OF ELECTRICITY

BUT…
The electrostatic force : + and - charges
The gravitational force: mass always +

ALSO:
The relative magnitude of the two forces.
The electrostatic repulsion between two electrons is approximately
1042 times larger than the corresponding gravitational attraction.

BUT BOTH HAVE THE 1/r2 Singularity.

The proton (p) has exactly the same charge (+)
as the electron e¯ ( - ) but
the mass of a proton is about 1836.153 times
the mass of an electron. (Why?)

CHARGE IS QUANTIZED:
The charge of a system is an integral multiple
of the electric charge of an electron.
Charge comes in discrete units.
Q = ±Ne
Why is charge quantized (?)
LAW OF CHARGE CONSERVATION:
The total electric charge in an isolated system never changes.

The change in the amount of electric charge in any volume of space is

exactly equal to the amount of charge flowing into the volume minus the
amount of charge flowing out of the volume.

CONSERVATION OF CHARGE - Examples

CHEMICAL REACTION: Na+ + Cl- = NaCl
charge: (+e) + (-e) = 0

RADIOACTIVE DECAY: n → p + e¯ + ν
charge: (0) = (+e) + (-e) + 0
FIELD LINES

ELECTRIC FIELD LINES START ON POSITIVE CHARGES AND END ON

NEGATIVE CHARGES.
THE DENSITY OF ELECTRIC FIELD LINES INDICATES THE STRENGTH OF
THE E FIELD.
THE FIELD IS STRONGER WHERE THE LINES GET CLOSER TOGETHER.
FIELD-LINES NEVER CROSS.
THE DIRECTION OF THE ELECTRIC FORCE AT ANY POINT IS TANGENT
TO THE FIELD LINE.
 POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE (VOLTAGE)
AN ELECTRIC POTENTIAL IS THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY NEEDED TO MOVE A UNIT OF A
POSITIVE CHARGE FROM ONE POINT TO ANOTHER POINT INSIDE THE FIELD.

THE POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE IS THE ENERGY CHANGE DIVIDED BY THE CHARGE. V = E/Q

EQUIPOTENTIAL LINES ARE ALL THE POINTS IN SPACE

WHERE THE POTENTIAL IS THE SAME.
MAGNETIC FIELDS
 Dirac
The existence of one single magnetic monopole would explain
quantization of electric charge everywhere in the Universe.
AMPERE’S LAW
AN ELECTRIC CURRENT
PRODUCES A MAGNETIC FIELD

An electric current produces a circular magnetic field

as it flows through a wire. (1820)
 BEFORE MAXWELL

THE EQUATIONS ARE INCONSISTENT

LAW OF CONSERVATION OF CHARGE FAILS

 AFTER MAXWELL

the added term

THE EQUATIONS ARE CONSISTENT

LAW OF CONSERVATION OF CHARGE HOLDS

WAVE EQUATION - LIGHT IS A WAVE

 MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS IMPLY
THE PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

THE ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS ARE IN PHASE.

PROPERTIES OF WAVES
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 JOHN VON NEUMANN
“It is just as foolish to complain
that people are selfish and treacherous
as it is to complain that
the magnetic field does not increase
unless the electric field has a curl.”
 Conservation of Charge now holds; Maxwell’s Equations
without Displacement Current were inconsistent.

WAVE EQUATION!!
Light (in fact all Electromagnetic
radiation) propagates as a wave.

1887: Heinrich Hertz conducted

a series of experiments that not
only confirmed the existence of
electromagnetic waves, but also
Maxwell’s Theoretical ‘idea’- verified that they travel at the
Displacement Current speed of light, denoted by c.
 F = ma

0 = ma, m ≠ 0

a = 0,

acceleration is 0

velocity is constant
GALILEO’S SHIP;
GALILEO IN A GONDOLA

INERTIAL FRAME OF REFERENCE

GALILEAN REFERENCE FRAME All inertial frames are in a state of constant, rectilinear motion
with respect to one another.
A frame of reference in which a body with zero Measurements in one inertial frame can be converted to
net force acting upon it is not accelerating; measurements in another by a simple transformation-
(the Galilean Transformation in Newtonian physics).
INERTIAL FRAME OF REFERENCE (GALILEAN REFERENCE FRAME):
…one that is not undergoing acceleration.
All inertial frames are in a state of constant, rectilinear motion (constant velocity) with respect to one another.

For any inertial frame of reference the laws of physics are the same, regardless of the velocity of that
frame of reference in terms of any other frame of reference.

If zero net force acting upon a body, it is not accelerating;

that is, such a body is at rest or it is moving at a constant speed in a straight line. (Newton’s First Law)

Newton's first law of motion is often stated as…

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the
same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
 MICHAELSON-MORLEY EXPERIMENT

Light was sent off in two directions and reflected from places the same distance from the
starting point and then the travel times were compared.

There was a difference in the travel times . this difference is detectin light’s movement through
the two different paths.
 LIGHT IS A WAVE.
TO TRAVEL THROUGH SPACE THERE MUST BE A MEDIUM (ETHER).
MICHELSON AND MORLEY EXPERIMENT (1887).

Which would take longer, for a man to swim from A to B and back,
or to swim across the river, from A to C and back?
AB = AC, v is the speed of the current.
But if A to C he must shoot for a point to the right of C to compensate for the current. …
Simple algebra shows that

IT TAKES LONGER TO SWIM UPSTREAM AND BACK THAN TO SWIM THE SAME DISTANCE
ACROSS STREAM AND BACK.
 1. Universality of the speed of light:
The speed of light in a vacuum is a universal constant-
independent of the motion of the source or the observer.
The speed of light is the same in ALL inertial reference frames.
2. Principle of Covariance:
All inertial frames
(those moving at constant velocity with respect to one another)
are equivalent for the observation and formulation of physical laws.

Physical laws must have the same mathematical form

when observed in any inertial reference frame.
 1 sec

186,000 mi/sec

LIGHT CONE OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY

 x

LIGHT CONE
WORLD-LINE OF EARTH IN ONE YEAR
t
A

B
C

x
O
A, B, and C all start at the same place O at the same time t=0.
A is at “rest”. B is moving away from A at a velocity 1 unit/5 sec.
C is moving away from A at a velocity of .6 units/sec.
C is moving away from A faster than B is.
EXAMPLE OF A
GEOMETRIC
TRANSFORMATION
x = 4/5x’ + 3/5y’
y = -3/5x’ + 4/5y’

Spacetime Physics – Taylor, Wheeler

The Galilean transformation is a good approximation only at relative speeds much smaller
than the speed of light. For speeds close to c we need new transformations.

Lorentz Transformations reflect the fact that observers moving at different velocities may
measure different distances, elapsed times, and even different orderings of events, but
always such that the speed of light is the same in all inertial reference frames.

The Lorentz transformations preserve the spacetime interval between any two
events. This property is the defining property of a Lorentz transformation.
They are the transformations under which Maxwell's
equations are invariant when transformed. Newton’s
equations are not invariant under a Lorentz transformation.
LORENTZ TRANSFORMATIONS

(x,y,z,t) ↔ (x’,y’,z’,t’)
SPECIAL RELATIVITY – ‘SIMULTANEITY’
 SPECIAL RELATIVITY – ‘LENGTH CONTRACTION’

Reference Frame
x’,t’ moves at .8c.

x,t is “at rest”

A 5 unit length
bar in x,t
contracts to
a 3 unit length bar
in x’,t’ Frame.
 w
Formule op een muur in Leiden
 SPECIAL RELATIVITY
TIME DILATION MASS INCREASE
 TWIN PARADOX

Twin 1 who stays at home is 10 years older.

Twin 2 ages only 6 years; he comes back four years younger.
𝑬 = 𝒎𝒄𝟐
 t

x2- t2= 1

ds2 = dx2+dy2 ds2 = dt2 – dx2

PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM MINKOWSKI METRIC

EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY GEOMETRY OF

MINKOWSKI SPACETIME
 EXPERIMENTAL SUPPORT FOR SPECIAL RELATIVITY

TIME DILATION - THE MUON EXPERIMENT:

Muons are created in cosmic ray showers at a typical height of 10 – 60 km.
Their mean lifetime is about 2 microseconds and travel at about 0.99c.
Measurements are made at the top of a mountain and at sea level.
Without time dilation it would take about 100 half-lives to reach the ground.
None should reach the ground.
But a significant number of muons do reach the ground.
For muons travelling at 0.99c, the time dilation factor is about 7. (see previous chart)
Their half-life observed in our ground frame of reference is longer by a factor of 7.
EXPERIMENTAL SUPPORT FOR SPECIAL RELATIVITY

In a frame of reference in which the clock is not at rest, the clock runs more slowly.
This effect, called time dilation, has been confirmed in many tests of special relativity.

Hafele and Keating Experiment

During October, 1971, four cesium atomic beam clocks were flown on commercial jet flights
around the world twice, once eastward and once westward, to test Einstein's theory of relativity
with macroscopic clocks. These results provide an unambiguous empirical resolution of the
famous clock "paradox" with macroscopic clocks.

𝑬 = 𝒎𝒄𝟐
The inter-convertibility of energy and mass has, of course, been observed.
EINSTEIN’S SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

Summary
• All inertial reference frames obey the same laws of physics.
• The speed of light in empty space, c, does not change when the
reference frame changes.
• No object can move faster than the speed of light
• At everyday velocities, the consequences of special relativity are
too small to be noticed or measured.
• At relativistic velocities, an observer will see that
clocks, lengths in the direction of travel,
momentum and energy will be different
than those at rest with respect to the observer.
• Even at rest, objects with mass have energy
E = mc2
Physics: Principles with Applications, Giancoli. 6th edition PPT