Relativity.

 According to the theory of special relativity, measurements of physical quantities are affected
by relative motion between an observer, and what he/she is observing.
 This leads to the postulates of special relativity which are discussed in the following sections.
 Under normal circumstances, when measurements of length, mass and time interval are done,
no special attention is given as to how this is done. This means that independent persons are
expected to produce the same results/readings for each one of them.
 When bodies are in motion, measurements of the above quantities become difficult, since the
light that carries information to the instruments that we are using travels at a definite speed.
 Measurements show that an aeroplane in motion is shorter to somebody on the ground than it
is to somebody in the plane itself; that time intervals on the moving plane appear longer to us
on the ground than to somebody in the plane itself, and that the mass of the aeroplane appears
greater to us on the ground than to somebody on the plane itself. These changes occur due to
relative motion. In each case, a frame of reference becomes part of the motion description,
e.g passenger to bus, bus to the earth etc. However, although we talk about frames of
reference, it is important to realize that there is no universal frame of reference pervading all
space, and hence there is no absolute motion.

 Inertial frames of reference are those that move at a constant velocity with respect to each
other. The postulates of special relativity are stated as follows:-
1. The laws of physics are the same in all reference frames moving at a constant velocity
with respect to each other.
2. The speed of light in free space has the same value for all inertial observers.

Following these ideas regarding the effect of relative motion on measurements of physical
quantities, the following are the changes that occur in time interval, length and mass.

Lorentz Transformations
Time dilation
Time interval, T as measured by an observer for an object moving at a velocity V always appears
extended to the stationary observer who measures the time interval as To. This is referred to as
time dilation, which is the apparent increase in time intervals due to relative motion. Thus,
To
T
V 2 , where To is the proper time, i.e time interval as
1 2
C
measured by an the observer in his/her own frame of reference, and C is the speed of light.

Example
Two observers, A on earth and B in a spacecraft whose speed is 2x108m/s, both set their watches
to the same time when the spacecraft is abreast of the earth. How much time must elapse by A’s
reckoning before the watches differ by 1s?
Example
A certain particle has a lifetime of 10-7s when measured at rest. How far does it go before
decaying, if its speed is 0.99c when it was created?
Solution

Length contraction
 Length, just like time interval is also affected by relative motion. The length L, of an object
in motion with respect to an observer always appears to be shorter than its proper length Lo,
when measured at rest with respect to him/her.
 This phenomena is known as the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction. From the principle of
V2
relativity, this shortening must be by a factor of 1 2 .
C
 Thus the general Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction (i.e shortening of length/distances) in the

direction of motion is

 Only lengths in the direction of motion must undergo contraction. Hence, to an outside
observer, a spacecraft is shorter in flight than on the ground, but it is not narrower.

Example
An astronaut whose height on earth is exactly 6ft is lying parallel to the axis of a spacecraft
moving at a speed of 0.9c relative to the earth. What is his height as measured by an observer in
the same spacecraft by an observer on earth?
Solution

Example
A meter stick appears only 60cm to an observer. What is its relative speed? How long does it
take to pass the observer?

(Assignment 1: Make short notes on Michelson-Morley experiment (Michelson interferometer))

Relativity of Mass
Measurement of mass, just like space and time depends on the relative speed between an
observer and what he/she is observing. If mo is the rest mass, that is the mass of an object when
measured at rest, and m is the mass of the moving object at a velocity v commonly known as the
mo
m
relativistic mass, then the relativistic mass is V 2 . Thus, the mass of a body moving at
1 2
c
a speed V relative to an observer is larger than its mass at rest, relative to an observer by a factor
1
V 2 . This observation of relativistic mass was confirmed in 1908 by Bucherer when he
1
c2
found that the ratio e/m of an electron’s charge to its mass is smaller for fast electrons than for
faster ones.
 V2
If V = c, then 1 2
0 mass becomes infinite. If V > c, then the relation becomes
C
imaginary, meaning that no material object can travel as fast as light. i.e V can never be equal to
c.

Example
A man has a mass of 100kg on the ground. When he is in an aircraft in flight, his mass is 101kg
as determined by an observer on the ground. What is the speed of the aircraft?

Relativistic Momentum
mo moV
m P
2
 The linear momentum P is defined as P = mV, but V . Therefore, V2 .
1 1 2
c2 c
 Momentum conservation is also valid in special relativity.

dm
 Newton’s second law is. Note that dt  0 if V changes
with time.

Mass and Energy

.E F
s
 The kinetic energy of a body is K.E is K 0
.ds
where F = the component of the applied force in the direction of displacement ds and s is the
distance over which the force acts.

 But FdtmV
 d


Total energy
 If mc2 is assumed to be the total energy of a body, then when it is at rest, K.E = 0, but it
posses an energy moc2 due to the rest mass mo. moc2 is called the rest mass energy Eo of a
body whose rest mass is mo.

KE = E - Eo where E = mc2 and Eo = moc2. or E = Eo+ K.E.

moc 2
 If a body is in motion, its total energy E = mc2 = V2 .
1 2
c
 This mass-energy relationship (E = mc ) was established by Einstein from the postulates of
2

special theory of relativity.

 The relationship shows that a small mass produces a lot of energy. Kinetic energy may be
expressed relativistically as
Massless particles
 These are particles with no rest mass but which exhibit particle-like properties such as energy
and momentum.
mc2
Emc 2
 o
 From the expression for the total energy that V2 and the relativistic
1 2
c
moV
P
momentum V 2 , we note that if mo= 0 and V< c, then E = 0 and P = 0.
1 2
c
0 0
 But if mo=0 and V= c, then E  0 and P  0 , which are indeterminate values.
 E and P can have any values, meaning that the expressions for total energy and relativistic
momentum hold true for massless particles that posses energy and momentum.

2
moc mo2c4
Emc 2
E  2

If V2 , then V 2 ……………(1)
1 2 1 2
c c
moV 2 2
P mV
2
P2  o 2
and if V , then V . Multiplying this by c2 we obtain,
1 2 1 2
c c
2 2 2
mV c
P2c2  o 2
V ……………….(2)
1 2
c
 Thus, for massles particles (mo=0) then the relation between their energy and mass is that E =
Pc
 Some examples of massless particles include photons and neutrinos.

(Assignment 2: Make short notes on Relativistic Doppler effect)