SAINT MICHAEL COLLEGE OF CARAGA

MODERN PHYSICS

THEORY OF RELATIVITY
Module 1 |Lesson 2

M A R T PJ B . S E G U N D I N O
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Theory of Relativity

• Albert Einstein proposed and published the two

interrelated theories, which when combined together is
known as the theory of relativity.

• The theory of relativity is traditionally broken into two

parts, special and general relativity.
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Michelson-Morley Experiment

Michelson and Morley tried to explain that Earth moved

around the sun on its orbit, and the flow of substances like
ether across the Earth’s surface could produce a detectable
“ether wind”.
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Lumineferous Ether
or
Ether Wind

Luminiferous means
light bearing
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Ether Wind
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Results of Michelson-Morley Experiment

They found that no matter which direction light travelled, it

always moved at the same speed—indicating that the ether
does not exist.
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Michelson-Morley Experiment

This result led Einstein to develop the theory of special

relativity. The key premise to special relativity is that the
speed of light (called c = 300,000 km/s) is constant in all
frames of reference, regardless of their motion.
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Special Theory of Relativity

By the late 1800's, it was becoming obvious that there were some
serious problems for Newtonian physics concerning the need for
absolute space and time when referring to events or interactions
(frames of reference). In particular, the newly formulated theory of
electromagnetic waves required that light propagation occur in a
medium (the waves had to be waves on something).
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Waves on Water
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Waves on Solid
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Light or electromagnetic wave does not need any medium to

propagate. It travels through a vacuum or empty space at a
constant speed which is at the speed of light.
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Special Theory of Relativity

In 1905, Einstein published the paper "On the Electrodynamics of
Moving Bodies", in which he explained how speed affects mass, time,
and space. The special theory of relativity is based on two postulates,
which are opposite to classical mechanics. As the outcome of the
special theory of relativity, Einstein’s law E = mc2 was framed. This
means energy is equal to the product of mass and square of the
speed of light.
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Special Theory of Relativity

Einstein’s famous equation: E = mc2

showed that energy and matter are two forms of the same thing.
Under the right conditions, energy can become mass, and vice versa.

In a nuclear reaction, mass decreases and energy increases. The sum

of mass and energy is always conserved in a nuclear reaction. The
amount of energy in even a small mass of matter is tremendous.
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Postulates of Special Theory of Relativity

First Postulate (Principle of Relativity): The laws of Physics

are the same for all inertial frames of reference related to
one another.

Second Postulate (Invariance of C): The speed of light in a

vacuum or empty space is equal for all the observers in any
inertial frame of reference. Here, the velocity of light c is
independent of the motion of the emitting body.
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

1. Relativity of Simultaneity:

If two events occur simultaneously, the observer at rest may

not notice the simultaneous events, but the observer in
relative motion can experience it due to the relativity of
simultaneity.
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

1. Relativity of Simultaneity:

Observer at rest
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

Observer in motion
1. Relativity of Simultaneity:
Direction of the moon
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

1. Relativity of Simultaneity

There is no absolute fact as to whether two spatially

separated events are simultaneous. There is only a fact of
simultaneity or its failure relative to an inertial frame of
reference.
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

2. Time Dilation

The time of the clock

in a moving state will
run slower than the
clock in a stationary
state, due to time
dilation.
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

3. Length Contraction

The length of the moving

object will get shorter in
the direction they travel
with respect to the
observer, due to the length
contraction.
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

3. Length Contraction or
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Consequences of Special Theory of Relativity

4. No object in the universe can travel faster than the speed

of light in vacuum. So, the maximum speed of all the objects
is finite.

5. Even the object with the effect of gravity can travel only at
the speed of light. They cannot travel faster than the speed
of light.
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Newton vs. Einstein’s idea of Gravity

In the 17th century Newton concluded that objects fall because they
are pulled by Earth's gravity. Einstein's interpretation was that these
objects do not fall. According to Einstein, these objects and Earth just
freely move in a curved space-time and this curvature is induced by
mass and energy of these objects.
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Einstein’s
idea of Gravity
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