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Relativity Until Test 2

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19 views22 pages

Relativity Until Test 2

Uploaded by

Ayan Juneja
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SPECIAL THEORY OF

RELATIVITY

o
Special Relativity
• Special Relativity
– Galilean transformation
– Basic Postulates.
– Lorentz transformation
• Length contraction
• Time dilation
• Rest mass is least, relativistic
mass.
• Energy mass equivalence.
Fundamentals of Modern Physics ~
Arthur Beiser
Length: Position:

C D
A B
E F

Motion:

• Length, position and motion are relative quantities


with moving object:
• position
• dimensions
• time
• mass
• velocity
• momentum/ energy
Observer in car

Here we can see the Effect of


Reference frame on the
Observations taken by the observer.
Observer on earth
• When we have origin and the directions in which to measure the distance from the
origin set up, and a clock to measure the time, we say that we have a frame of reference
or simply a frame.
Frames of Reference:
• In order to describe the motion of moving bodies, we need
to state where the object is at a given time.
• But to state where an object is, we need to measure its
position relative to something else.

• We need a reference point from where to define the


position of objects. Once we have chosen such a point,
which is called the origin, we can specify the position
(x,y,z), and distance from the origin.

• We also need a clock so that we can specify at what time


‘t’ the object was at the given position.
What is an inertial frame of reference?
Inertial Frames:

• Newton's first law, the law of inertia, states that

• if an object is at rest it will stay at rest if no force is acting on it, and if an object is moving
it will keep on moving at constant velocity if no force is acting on it.

• a frame, in which this law is correct, is called an inertial frame.

• If one such inertial frame exists, then an infinite number of other inertial frames exist
since any frame that is moving at a constant relative velocity to the first inertial frame is
also an inertial frame.

• The frames in which the law of inertia does NOT hold are those that are accelerating
with respect to inertial frames. They are called non-inertial frames.
What is an inertial frame of reference?

A frame of reference is a system


of co-ordinates. An inertial frame
is one that’s not accelerating.
1,000,000 ms-1 1,000,000
ms-1

■The man on earth will measure the speed of both


spaceship = 1,000,000 ms-1.
■How fast is Spaceship A approaching Spaceship B?
■ Both Spaceships see the other approaching at
2,000,000 ms-1.
■ This is Classical Relativity.
Einstein’s Special
Relativity
0 ms-1

300,000,000
ms-1

1,000,000 ms-1
 Both spacemen measure the speed of the approaching ray of light.
 How fast do they measure the speed of light to be?
• Stationary man 300,000,000 ms-1
• Man travelling at 1,000,000 ms-1
– 301,000,000 ms-1?
– Wrong! The Speed of Light is
the same for all observers
Theory Of Relativity
The theory of relativity was developed by Einstein in1905. It
deals with the absolute motion of the body through space.

deals with objects or observers moving relative to each


This other.
theory is divided into two parts.

1.Special theory: This theory deals with objects or systems


which are either moving at a constant speed or at rest with
respect to each other.

2.General theory: Describes the relationship between


gravity and the geometrical structure. (not in
syllabus)
Experiment at rest Experiment in moving frame

Ball rises and ends up in the thrower’s hand. Ball in the air the same
length of time.

Experiment looks different from ground observer (parabolic trajectory,


speed as a function of time) and observer on the truck.

However, they both agree on the validity of Newton’s laws.


Two Simple Postulates
• “The laws of physics are the same in every inertial
frame of reference”
• The Principle of Relativity

• “The speed of light in vacuum is the same in all


inertial frames of reference, and is independent of
the motion of the source”
• Invariance of the speed of light
First Postulate

“The laws of physics are the same in every inertial


frame of reference”
Newtonian Principle of Relativity

•If Newton’s laws are valid in one reference frame, then they are
also valid in another reference frame moving at a uniform
velocity relative to the first system.
•This is referred to as the Newtonian principle of relativity or
Galilean invariance.

y’ S
y

x’
O x
z
Galilean transformation:
• The equation relating the coordinates of a particle in two inertial
frames(whose relative velocity is negligible in comparison to the
speed of light) are called GALILEAN TRANSFORMATION.
The Galilean Transformation
•For a point P:
• K is at rest and K’ is moving with velocity ‘v’
•In one frame K: P = (x, y, z, t) • Axes are parallel (for simplicity)
•In another frame K’: P = (x’, y’, z’, t’) • K and K’ are INERTIAL FRAMES

K y P = (x, y, z, t)
P = (x’, y’, z’, t’)

x
z
Conditions of the Galilean Transformation
• Parallel axes
• K’ has a constant relative velocity in the x-direction with
respect to K

• Time (t) for all observers is a Fundamental invariant, i.e., the


same for all inertial observers
22
Numerical
An observer in the laboratory sees two particles colliding at
x = 20.5 m, y=0, z=0 and t= 7.2 s. What are the co ordinates
of this event in a frame moving at 30.5 m/s with respect to
the laboratory frame?

Ans: x’=-199.1 m, y’=0, z’=0 and t’=7.2s.

K y P = (x, y, z, t)
P = (x’, y’, z’, t’)

x
z

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