30 dec. 2016
Length/ Space contraction.
is the phenomenon of a decrease in length of an object as measured by an observer who is traveling at any non-zero velocity relative to the object.
This contraction (more formally called Lorentz contraction or Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction after Hendrik Lorentz and George Francis FitzGerald) is usually only noticeable at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. Length contraction is only in the direction parallel to the direction in which the observed body is travelling. For standard objects, this effect is negligible at everyday speeds, and can be ignored for all regular purposes. Only at greater speeds, or for electron motion, does it become significant. At a speed of 13,400,000 m/s (30 million mph, 0.0447c) contracted length is 99.9% of the length at rest; at a speed of 42,300,000 m/s (95 million mph, 0.141c), the length is still 99%. As the magnitude of the velocity approaches the speed of light, the effect becomes dominant, as can be seen from the formula:
Special relativity |
---|
is the phenomenon of a decrease in length of an object as measured by an observer who is traveling at any non-zero velocity relative to the object.
This contraction (more formally called Lorentz contraction or Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction after Hendrik Lorentz and George Francis FitzGerald) is usually only noticeable at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. Length contraction is only in the direction parallel to the direction in which the observed body is travelling. For standard objects, this effect is negligible at everyday speeds, and can be ignored for all regular purposes. Only at greater speeds, or for electron motion, does it become significant. At a speed of 13,400,000 m/s (30 million mph, 0.0447c) contracted length is 99.9% of the length at rest; at a speed of 42,300,000 m/s (95 million mph, 0.141c), the length is still 99%. As the magnitude of the velocity approaches the speed of light, the effect becomes dominant, as can be seen from the formula:
- L0 is the proper length (the length of the object in its rest frame),
- L is the length observed by an observer in relative motion with respect to the object,
- v is the relative velocity between the observer and the moving object,
- c is the speed of light,
- .