Sawa University of Engineering Technology

Private Department of Medical Physics

University
And Radiotherapy

Atomic Physics
2nd Stage
2nd Lecture
By Asst. Lect. Hasan Fareed

2024-2025

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

1. Postulates of Special Relativity

A. The Principle of Relativity: The laws of physics are the same in all non-
accelerating (inertial) frames of reference. This means no matter how fast you're
moving (as long as you're not accelerating), the basic rules of physics, like the
laws of motion or electricity, work the same.

B. The Constancy of the Speed of Light: The speed of light in a vacuum is

always the same, no matter who is measuring it or how fast they are moving.
Light travels at a constant speed (about 3 108 m / s ), regardless of the motion of
the light source or the observer.

These postulates led to significant changes in our understanding of space and

time, such as time dilation, length contraction, and the equivalence of mass and
energy (expressed in the famous equation E = mc2 ).

Question/ Is the Galilean transformation applicable to electromagnetism?

Answer/ Let us take an example a spherical electromagnetic wave propagating

with a constant speed c in the reference system S may be given by:

x 2 + y 2 + z 2 − c 2t 2 = 0

For this equation to be invariant, its form in the system S' should be:

x '2 + y '2 + z '2 − c2t 2 = 0

Substituting x,y,z, and t from equation (1) we get:

( x + vt )2 + y 2 + z 2 − c2t 2 = 0

Thus, the Galilean transformation works well for classical mechanics but not for
electromagnetism.

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

2. Lorentz Coordinate Transformation

Lorentz Transformations describes how space and time coordinates change

between two observers one is at rest and the second is moving at constant velocity
v, or both moving relative to each other (relativistic speeds). Specifically, when
velocities approach the speed of light.

Space and Time transformation equations are given by

x − vt
x ' =  ( x − vt ) = …..(1)
v2
(1 − 2 )
c

x '+ vt '
x =  ( x '+ vt ') = …..(2)
v2
(1 − 2 )
c

vx
t−
vx c2
t ' =  (t − 2 ) = …..(3)
c v2
(1 − 2 )
c

vx '
t '+
vx ' c2
t =  (t '+ 2 ) =
c v 2 …..(4)
(1 + 2 )
c
1
Where,  = is the Lorentz factor, which accounts for the time dilation
v2
(1 − 2 )
c
and length contraction effects.
Thus, Lorentz transformation Equations can be summarized as
x ' =  ( x − vt )

y' = y

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

z' = z Lorentz coordinates system Eqs from system S to S'….(5)

vx
t ' =  (t − )
c2
and the inverse transformations
x =  ( x '+ vt ')

y = y'

z = z' Lorentz coordinates system Eqs. from system S' to S…..(6)

vx '
t =  (t '+ )
c2
When the situation involves very low velocities, we can see that:

v v2
 1  2  1 , thus Equation (5) and (6) are reduced to:
c c

x ' = x − vt
y' = y

z' = z
t'=t
x = x '− vt '
Which are the same as Galilean transformations.

2.1 Lorentz velocity transformation

Let us consider two inertial systems S and S' moving with a relative velocity v
along the x, x ' axis. Consider a particle at P , which is moving in space and has
velocity u( u x , u y , u z ) as measured by an observer in system S and velocity u' (
u x ', u y ', u z ' ) as measured by an observer in system S' . The aim is to find relations
between the components

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

Differentiating equation (11) we obtain

Lorentz velocity transformations from S' to S….(13)

Lorentz velocity transformations from S to S'….(14)

2.2 Length Contraction

According to the special theory of relativity, when a rod of length ( Lo ) in S'
system moves with a uniform velocity ( v ) close to the speed of light, it will
appear shorter for a stationary observer in system S. This mean that the relative
length is less than the actual length, this phenomenon is known as length
contraction and it is given by:

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

v 2 Lo
L = Lo 1 − 2 =
c 

From this equation we see that:

The effect is reciprocal. If S had a rod of length Lo , while S' is moving and looks
at the rod, it will appear to him as:

v2
L ' = Lo 1 −
c2

Thus, the measured length of an object is maximum when the object is at rest
relative to the observer and appears constructed by factor 1 −  2 to an observer
v
who is in motion relative to the object, where  = .
c

Example/ A spaceship is moving at a velocity of 0.8c relative to an observer on

Earth. The spaceship, when at rest, has a proper length of 500m. What is the
contracted length observed by the person on Earth?
Solution/
Lo = 500m

v = 0.8c

v2
L = Lo 1 − 2
c

(0.8c) 2 0.64c 2
L = 500 1 − = 500 1 − = 500 0.36 = 500  0.6 = 300m
c2 c2

 L = 300m , as seen by an observer standing on earth

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

2.3 Relative Mass

One of the important consequences of special relativity is that a body of mass (
mo ) is not constant as given in classical mechanics, but it changes with the body's
velocity according to the following equations:
mo
m= =  mo
v2
1− 2
c

mo : is the mass of the body at rest (rest mass).

m : is the mass of the body moving with a velocity ( v ) (relative mass).

This equation states that the mass of an object is not constant in general only when
the object is at rest the mass will be constant and equal to mo when the object
starts to move, its mass appears to be increased to m this is called relativistic
mass.
Example/ At what speed will the mass of a proton become double its rest mass?
Solution/
m =  mo

m = 2mo

2mo =  mo

 = 2

1 1 v2
= 4=  4− 4 2 =1
v2 v2 c
1− 2 1− 2
c c

3 3
 v2 = c2  v = c
4 2

2.4 Relativistic Time (Time dilation)

Consider ( to ) as the proper time measured by an observer in a reference frame
moving at a velocity near the speed of light, hence the relative time measured by

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

an observer in another frame of reference at rest ( t ) is larger than ( to ) according

to the following relation:
to
t= =  to
v2
1− 2
c

From this relation we conclude:

1.As the velocity ( v ) increases, the denominator will also increase, which mean
when (v) is near the speed of light (c) , then (t  to ) .

2.when (v  c) then (t = to ) , hence the Lorentz equation is reduced to classical

mechanics.

2.4.1 Twin Paradox

In the twin paradox, one twin travels at near-light speed while the other stays on
Earth. Due to time dilation in special relativity, the traveling twin ages more
slowly because time passes differently for them in motion. While the time for the
twin on earth will pass by normally. When they reunite, the traveling twin will be
younger than the one stayed on earth.

Example/ The nearest star to our solar system, Alpha Centauri, is 4.3 light-years
away. This means a light wave from the star takes 4.3 years to reach Earth. If a
spaceship travels to Alpha Centauri at 0.999c, calculate the time it takes for the
round trip with respect to an observer on Earth, and the time experienced by an
observer inside the spaceship.

Solution/
a light year is the distance traveled by light in 1 year and its equal:
1Ly = c  t = 3108 1 365  24  3600 = 9.46 1015 m

The distance between the Alpha Centauri and Earth is (4.3Ly):

d = 4.3  9.46 1015 = 4.11016 m

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

The time of the trip to the star and back to earth:

2d 2  4.11016
t= =  t = 2.74 108 s
v 0.999  3 10 8

2.74 108
t=  t = 8.7 y
3600  24 108

To calculate the time according to an observer inside the spaceship (to )

to to
t=  8.7 =
v2 (0.999c) 2
1− 1−
c2 c2

to = 8.7  0.044  to = 0.38 y

We conclude that the twin on the spaceship will age only 0.38 years
(approximately 5 months) during the journey, while the twin on Earth will age
8.7 years by the time the traveling twin returns.

2.5 Relativistic Mechanics

In classical mechanics, momentum is simply p=mv (mass times velocity).
However, at very high velocities, near the speed of light, this formula breaks
down because objects can't move faster than light. Relativistic momentum is
modified to:

mo v
p= =  mo v
v2
1− 2
c
Here, v is the object's velocity, and c. This formula ensures that as an object's
velocity approaches the speed of light, its momentum increases rapidly, even
without a corresponding large increase in velocity.

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

2.6 Total Energy in Relativity

The full expression for an object's total energy, taking into account both its rest
mass and its motion, is:

mo c 2
E= =  mo c 2
2
v
1−
c2

Where:

• E is the total energy of the object,

• mo is the object's rest mass (mass when it is at rest),
• v is the object's velocity, and
• c is the speed of light.
•  Lorentz factor
This formula works at any velocity, but when an object is at rest (v=0), it
simplifies to the famous equation:

Eo = mo c 2

Where Eo is called the rest energy of the object. This represents the energy the
object has due to its mass, even if it’s not moving.

When the object is moving (v>0), the total energy E includes both the rest energy
and the kinetic energy (the energy due to motion). The kinetic energy KE in
relativity is given by:

E = KE + Eo

At low velocities (when v≪c), this reduces to the classical kinetic energy
expression KE = 1 2 mv 2 .

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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

2.7 The relation between momentum and energy in relativity

There is a simple and very useful relation between relativistic momentum P, rest
mass energy Eo and the total energy E which can obtains as follows

Squaring and rearranging we get

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Multiply both side by c , we get

Substituting for P = mv , Eo = mo c 2 , and E = mc2 we obtain the required relation

Example/ An electron is accelerated from rest through a potential difference

V = 107 volts find a) Its kinetic energy, b) its total energy c) it's mass d) its
velocity e) its momentum.
Solution/
a) KE = e  V = 107 eV = 10MeV
b) E = KE + mo c 2 = 10MeV + 0.5MeV = 10.5MeV
−31
c) Since the rest mass of the electron is mo = 9.110 kg
m =  mo
KE = ( − 1)mo c 2

KE 10
= 2
+1 = + 1 = 21
mo c 0.5

 m = 21 9.110−31 kg = 1.9110−29 kg

1
d)  = = 21
1−  2

v = 0.9983c
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Atomic Physics 2nd Lecture 2nd Stage

e) P = mv =  mov
or we could use

Example/Consider two rockets, A, and B, each moving with velocity 0.9 c

relative to the earth, and approaching each other according to an observer
standing on the earth. Calculate the relative velocity of B with respect to A.
Solution/
The velocity transformation formula given by Lorentz is:
u −v
ux ' = x
vu
1 − 2x
c
Where, (u x ) and (v) are the velocity of both rockets relative to the observer on
earth.
Note that since the two rockets travel in opposite direction, u x = −v = 0.9c
0.9c + 0.9c 1.8c
ux ' = = = 0.9944c
1 + 0.9  0.9 1.81

Homework/ Find the mass of an electron whose velocity is 0.99 c and its rest
−31
mass is mo = 9.110 kg .

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