Physics Factsheet
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Special Relativity
Special Relativity is about the idea that there can be no absolute
motion, you can only measure motion, length, mass and time
dependent upon your position as an observer.
The idea of mass energy equivalence also arises from Special
Relativity theory.
Einsteins Postulates of Special Relativity:
1. The Laws of Physics apply equally in all inertial frames of
reference
2. The speed of light in a vacuum is measured as the same in all
inertial frames
Evidence that supports the Theory of Special Relativity
The Michelson-Morley experiment shows that the speed of light is
constant regardless of your apparent motion. It was this experiment
that led to the development of the Theory of Special Relativity.
What do Einsteins Postulates of Special Relativity mean?
1. If you drop a ball, it falls, bounces and comes back up. If you
are on a bus at constant speed, dropping the ball gives exactly
the same result provided the bus is NOT ACCELERATING. Both
are inertial frames of reference. Any experiment performed on
one can be repeated on the other and the same result obtained.
This means that any inertial frame of reference is essentially the
same.
2. Ships A and B move away from the sun at constant speed. Even
if A moves at c and B at c, they are both inertial frames of
reference and as such each will measure the speed of light with
respect to their own ship as c (3 108 m s-1).
c Example Exam Question 1
c
SUN
A B
Why?
From postulate 1 an observer on ship A could claim that A is
stationary and that the Sun and ship B are moving away from A,
so it is logical that it should measure the speed of light as c.
Observers at Ship B and the Sun could both claim the same
thing (that they are stationary) and so can also measure speed
of light as c.
All have an equally valid claim and experiments show that they
would indeed each measure speed of light to be the same.
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Number 149
Inertial Frames of Reference
These are any frame of reference with no external forces acting
upon it or any of the objects inside it. If you place a ball on the floor
of an aeroplane in level, uniform flight, the ball will remain still,
obeying Newtons Laws. The aeroplane is an inertial frame of
reference.
However when it is accelerating the ball will roll backwards. For an
observer on the aircraft, the ball appears not to be obeying Newtons
Laws of motion. The aeroplane cannot be an inertial frame of
reference.
Time Dilation
An observer watches another frame of reference moving
at speed v with respect to him.
t 0 is the time measured in the frame of
reference (proper time)
t0 t is the time measured by the observer
t=
(1 v 2
c2 ) v is the speed of the frame of reference
with respect to the observer
c is the speed of light, (3 108 m s-1)
Exam Hint :-
t0, the dilated time, is always smaller than t.
when given a speed as a fraction of c, eg 0.5c, use 0.5c in
the equation for ease. The two cs will cancel out making
the calculation simpler.
(c = 3 108 m s-1)
(a) A train travels along a level straight track. Show that at a uniform
speed of 30 m s-1 there is no significant effect of time dilation.
[2 marks]
(b) As the train passes a point on the embankment a stop clock on
the train and on the platform are started simultaneously
(i) An observer on the platform simultaneously reads the
platform clock 7 minutes later, and reads the clock on the
train as 6 minutes. What is the new speed of the train as
measured from the observer? [2 marks]
(ii) What is the speed of the station as measured from the train?
[1 mark]
(iii) An observer on the train can see both clocks. When the
train clock reads 7 minutes, state what time the station clock
will read. [1 mark]
149. Special Relativity Physics Factsheet

Example Exam Question 1 Answers Exam Hint:-

(a) You have to demonstrate that t t0. Some questions will involve algebraic manipulations so
A good approach is to show that t/t0 1 you should practice rearranging the formulae until you
t0 are comfortable with doing it.
t=
(1 v 2
c2 ) These calculations are quite complicated to enter correctly
onto a calculator so ensure that you can get the answer
substitute in the velocity and the speed of light and divide by t0 shown in the example. Be careful to use brackets as shown
t 1 1 so that you are square rooting the correct parts.
= = State indicates that no calculation is needed, so the
t0 ( 2 8 2
1 30 ( 3 10 ) 1 900 ( 9 1016 ) ) ( ) answer should be obvious.
1 1 These equations use ratios, which means you do not have
= =1
(1 1 10 ) 14 1 to convert the units as was done in the above example. You
could use minutes and get the same answer.
(As 1 - 110-14 = 0.99999999999999 1 )
t Length contractions (Lorentz contractions)
1 t t0
t0 A ship is measured by the astronaut to be 100 m long.

Hence relativistic effects are negligible as time is almost equal

to dilated time.

b (i) For ease, convert times to seconds and decide which time is
which: 100 m
the moving reference frame is the train, so the clock on the
train which is measuring 6 minutes is t0. t is 7 minutes, the
time as measured by the observer on the platform.
t0 = 6 min = 360 s
t = 7 min = 420 s
You must rearrange the equation carefully. Practise this
until you can get the equation shown below. As it flies past Earth at close to the speed of light it is measured to
1 be less than 100 m long. The length has contracted.
t0 t 2
t= v = c1 0
(1 v 2
c 2
) t If the astronaut tries to measure the length of the ship, the tape
measure he uses is also moving and would contract by the same
1
amount, so he would still measure it as being 100 m long. From the
360 2 1
= 3 10 8 1 8
= 1.13 10 ms point of view of the astronaut, nothing about the ship has changed.
420
b (ii) From the inertial reference frame of the train, the station is
moving backwards and the train is stationary. Therefore,
the speed of the station as measured from the train is the
same as the speed of the train as measured from the station.
v = 1.13 108 m s-1 Notice that the ship does not
shrink, it simply gets shorter
b (iii)6 minutes (360s) in the direction it was
As the station is viewed to be moving, then the situation travelling.
from (b) (i) is reversed. If the station is moving with speed
1.1(3) 108 ms-1 then it will experience time dilation just
as the train did when viewed from the platform.
We could put all the numbers in again but as we have done
this calculation already to find the speed we know that the
dilated time is 6 minutes (360s) l = l0 (1 v 2
c2 )
Notice this result with care! l 0 is the proper length, the length of the object when measured
The observer on the platform sees the train is moving. He at rest (eg the length of the ship as measured by the
reads the station clock as 7 minutes and the clock on the astronaut).
train as 6 minutes.
l is the length as measured from a frame that is moving with
From the reference frame of the train: respect to the object. (eg the Earth observer who is not
The observer on the train sees the platform moving. When moving alongside the ship and therefore is moving with
the train clock reads 7 minutes he sees the clock on the respect to it.)
platform as 6 minutes.

This may seem to make no sense but it is the essence of

relativity in that you get different results depending on your
view point.

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149. Special Relativity Physics Factsheet

Reversing the situation (b) (i) The proper length is l0, the distance travelled by the missile
From the frame of the ship it can be said that the ship is stationary as measured from the launch pad. l is the distance as
and the Earth is moving. From this view point the ship would see measured by the missile.
the Earth contract and look like a squashed ball in the direction it 1 10 8 ( )
2
was apparently moving. v2
l = l0 1 2 = 1 1 = 0.9428 = 0.84 km
( )
2
c 3 10 8
Reducing the distance (Correct substitution of numbers)
A very fast car travelling along a road will be seen to contract by an (correct answer & unit)
observer at the roadside.
v Exam Hint:-
We can check that this is an appropriate answer as we would
expect this length to be smaller but as the speed is less than half
the speed of light then the change is not too significant.
(b) (ii)Speed measured from launch pad = 1108 ms-1
speed measured distance measured by missile
For the driver, however, it is the road that is moving in relation to from missile = time measured by missile = l/t0
her. Whilst her car stays the same size, the road contracts.
speed measured = =
( 2
l l0 1 v c
2
) l
= 0
by missile (
t0 t 1 v c
2 2
) t

v = speed measured from launch pad

The result is that at speeds approaching the speed of light the
distance travelled by the car decreases as measured from the car.
l0 /t is the distance as measured from the launch pad
divided by the time as measured by the launch pad. This
is clearly the speed as measured by the launch pad.
Therefore, speed from launch pad = speed as measured
by the rocket.

Example Exam Question 2

A missile in a silo is measured to be 143cm long and 28 cm in diameter Exam Hint:-
at its widest point. An on board computer will measure the length Leaving the length as centimetres in aii) is fine just remember
of the missile during the flight. (c = 3108 ms-1) the answer will be in centimetres. If you want the answer in
(a) The missile is fired at 1108 ms-1 with respect to its launch pad metres then use l0 = 1.43 m. Likewise with bi) which was left
(i) What is the length of the missile according to the on board as km.
instruments? [1 mark] As a check, l is always less than l0
(ii)What is the length of the missile as measured by an
independent observer on the launch pad? [2 marks]
(iii)What is the diameter of the missile as measured by this same Relativistic mass increase
observer? [1 mark]
(b) The missile travels a distance of 1 km as measured from the If an observer measures the mass of an object moving
launch pad relative to them, it will increase as the speed of the object increases:
(i) What is the distance travelled by the missile as measured by m0
m= m0 is the mass of the object measured at
(1 v )
its on board computer? [2 marks] 2
(ii) Show that the speed as measured by the launch pad observer c2 rest (proper mass)
m is the relativistic mass
is the same as the speed measured by the on board computer.
[2 marks]
Particle accelerators and the speed of light
Example Exam Question 2 Answers The Large Hadron Collider accelerates protons to 99.9999991% the
(a) (i) The length of the missile as measured at rest is 143 cm. As speed of light. To reach 100% is impossible:
the computer and measuring equipment are at rest with the
missile, then the computer reads the length as 143 cm. m0
m=
(ii)l is the length as measured from the launch pad (the (1 v 2
c2 ) as v gets close to c then

contracted length)
m0 m0 m0
( ) m= = =
2
1 10 8
l = l0
v2
1 2 = 143 1 = 134cm (1 c 2
c 2
) (1 1) 0
( )
2
c 3 10 8

(Correct substitution of numbers) (correct answer & unit) the closer to light speed an object gets, the closer its mass gets to
being infinite. Therefore a near infinite force is required to get any
(iii) The dimensions of the rocket only contract in the direction more acceleration.
it is travelling. Therefore, the diameter remains unchanged Exam Hint:- as a check, m0 is always less than m
at 28 cm
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149. Special Relativity Physics Factsheet

How much of an effect does relativity really have?

Graph showing how the relativistic mass of a 1 kg object increases with speed. Speed given as fraction of speed of light

4
relativistic
mass /kg
3

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

proportion of speed of light /c

You have to be travelling at 0.14c (4.2107 m s-1) before you would notice a 1% increase in relativistic mass. The same is true for length
contraction and time dilation. At day to day speeds, the effect is unnoticeable.

This means that Newtons Laws become unusable at relativistic speeds. For example: F = ma can only be used where the mass does not
significantly increase due to relativity.

Mass Energy equivalence

E = mc2 Mass, m, of a particle is equivalent to energy, E, depending on the speed of light squared.

1kg of mass is the same as 91016 J of energy!

It takes 91016 J of energy to produce 1 kg of mass.

The most common uses of this equation are:

Matter-antimatter annihilation
Pair production
Binding energy in nuclear fusion and fission

When moving at relativistic speeds you must use the relativistic mass. The equation becomes:

m0 c 2
E=
(1 v 2
c2 )

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149. Special Relativity Physics Factsheet

Example Exam Question 3

(a) The relativistic mass of a particle is 10% higher than the rest
mass. What is its velocity? [2 marks]
(b) Show that the relativistic mass of a particle will always be larger
than the rest mass. [2 marks]
(c) Explain why the radius of a circular particle accelerator is always
built slightly larger than is thought necessary by normal laws of
circular motion. [2 marks]
Example Exam Question 3 Answers
a) m 110% 1 1
= = 1.1 = v = c 1 = 1.2108 m s-1
m0 100% (1 v 2
c2 ) 1.1
2

m0
m=
b)
(1 v 2
c2 )
as v < c, then
v2/c2 < 1
(1- v2/c2) < 1

So (1 v 2
)
c2 < 1
When m0 is divided by a number less than 1, the answer is
always larger than m0. Therefore the relativistic mass will
always be bigger.
Exam Hint :- t 1
=
Practise this type of question for time and length too. v ) c
2

mv2
(c) to move an object in a circle a centripetal force of F = r

is needed. The relativistic mass of the particle will

increase as it moves faster, so m would be larger than
expected. As r m, the radius of the circle travelled by
the particles would increase as the mass increased.

Practice Questions For all questions c = 3108 ms-1

1. (a) Explain what is meant by: (i) proper time, (ii) proper length?
[2 marks] m 1
(b) (i) What was the purpose of the Michelson Morley (1 v 2 2
) ( )
experiment? [2 marks]
(ii) What were the implications of the result? [3 marks]
6 6
(c) State the two postulates of special relativity. [2 marks] = =
(d) A moving bus can, in theory, be taken as an inertial frame of ( 0.7 )
reference, but why in practice is it not? [2 marks]
(e) In a perfectly smooth and fully enclosed lift moving at uniform
speed, what experiment could be performed within the lift to
prove that it is moving? [1 marks]
2. A spaceship passes Earth at 0.7c and flashes a beam of light for 3 s.
(a) What is the duration of the flash as measured from the Earth? =
c
=
( )
[2 marks]
(b) What distance does the ship travel in that time as measured
(1 v c 2 2
) (1 ( 2 10 ) 8 2
( 3 10 ) ) 8 2

from: (i) the ship (ii) the Earth [2 marks] = =

(c) If the ship has mass 1.34106 on the launch pad, what is its
mass as measured from Earth while it is in flight? [2 marks]
3. (a) Is it possible for a particle accelerator to accelerate a proton
to the speed of light? [1 mark]
(b) Explain your answer. [1 mark] 2 10
l 1
(c) Suggest how is it possible for photons (light particles) to
travel at the speed of light? [1 marks]
)
(d) (i) What is the rest energy of a proton (mp = 1.6710-27)?
[2 marks]
(ii) What is the relativistic energy of the proton travelling at
200,000,000 m s-1? [2 marks]
(e) The accelerator is 1.2km long. What is the relativistic distance
travelled by the protons at this speed? [2 marks]
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