Physics Lesson Plan

Teacher Howard Course Phys 11 Date Thur Ap15

Unit Title Relativity Grade Level 11 Class Size 24
Length 150 Block/Period C Lesson #, of Relativity 1
Goal(s)/PLO(s):
define inertial reference frame state the two postulates of the special theory of
relativity: the relativity principle the constancy of
describe the Michelson-Morley experiment and the speed of light
explain the significance of the "null result"
Materials:
Chris’s relativity worksheets

Timeline Class Activities

Introduction
Test Friday

Body
Hand out relativity package
Relativity notes
Review for the test

Closure
All conceptual plus 5 choice

Notes Relativity Intro

We have covered all the chapters that deal with motion and the
causes of motion of large everyday objects. Everything you’ve
learned was known in Newton’s time (based on Galileo’s work).
In 1905 Einstein figured out that it was all “wrong”

Galilean relativity
• The trajectory of an object depends on the observer
o Tossing a ball on a plane
 The balls path looks different depending on your
frame of reference (ground or plane)
 But either frame can be used to figure out the
motion so they are equivalent
o Placing the ball on the floor while it accelerates
  Passenger sees acceleration with no force
(Newton is violated)
 Ground sees constant velocity (Newton works)
 The frames aren’t equivalent
• Galilean relativity works when neither frame is accelerating
o The velocity is the balls relative to the moving frame
plus the velocity of the moving frame
When Einstein was 16 he asked if Galilean relativity worked for
electromagnetism (light)
http://www.astronomynotes.com/light/s3.htm
• If you could move beside light with the same velocity the
light would appear stationary
o Stationary electric fields do not produce magnetic fields
therefore it wouldn’t be light anymore
• Galilean relativity doesn’t work for electromagnetism if one
object moves at the speed of light.

Light was long known to be a wave and it was thought that all
waves needed a medium to travel in
• They invented the idea of the ether
o Invisible substance that light travels through
o Preferred frame of reference
 At rest
 Earth should be in motion relative to it
o 1887 Albert Michelson and later with EW Morely
 tried to detect earth’s velocity relative to the ether
 split a beam of light 90o and then brought them
back if the velocity changed with direction then
there should be interference patterns

mirror

Source
mirror

detector
 • the “null” result indicated one of 2 things
o the earth is the centre of the universe
(later verified to be false with the same
experiment in orbit)
o there is no ether
Einstein wrote 3 papers in 1905
• “On the electrodynamics of moving bodies” is now the most
famous (not the one that got his the Nobel prize)
o 2 postulates (assumptions)
 special relativity
• there is no preferred reference frame for
electromagnetism
• no frame is at rest
 The speed of light is independent of the motion of
the source and observer
• Turn on your head lights and the speed does
not add to the speed of your car
Next class we will look at how these postulates change our
understanding of how the Universe works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajhFNcUTJI0&list=PLED25F9
43F8D6081C&index=4&feature=plcp