Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land. Little minutes, small though they may be, make the mighty ages of eternity.

SPECIAL RELATIVITY

REFERENCE FRAMES n Inertial reference frame n Galilean relativity n Accelerated reference frames

THE SPEED OF LIGHT n Maxwell’s equations –magnetic and electric field symmetry –accelerating/oscillating charges n Michelson-Morley experiment

POSTULATES OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY n The postulate of relativity (reference frames) n The speed of light n The problem of simultaneity

RELATIVE MEASUREMENTS n Proper time –single clock at rest

RELATIVE MEASUREMENTS n Time dilation –two synchronized clocks

RELATIVE MEASUREMENTS n Time dilation –the speed parameter –the Lorentz factor –muon experimental confirmation –the twin paradox

RELATIVE MEASUREMENTS n Proper length –no time constraints n Length contraction –Simultaneous position measurements n The Lorentz transformations –displacement –time period

Relative Measurements n Velocity n Mass –classical momentum –relativistic momentum and mass n Relativistic kinetic energy

Relative Measurements n Total energy, momentum, and kinetic energy relationship n Space-time diagrams –vertical lines –horizontal lines