Unit 7 - Special Relativity

Definitions

• $ C = \mbox{the speed of light} $
• $ C = 299,792,458 \; \mbox{meters/second}  $
• $ C \approx 3 *  10^8 \; \mbox{meters/second}$
• $ V = \mbox{difference in velocity of two observers} $
• $ t = \mbox{time measured by first observer}  $
• $ t^{\prime} = \mbox{time measured by second observer} $

Equations

• $ \beta = \dfrac{V}{C} $
• $  \mbox{Where:}   \; 0 \le \beta \ge 1 $
• $ \gamma = \dfrac{1}{\sqrt{1 - \beta}} $
• $ t^{\prime}  = \gamma t $
• $ \mbox{If observers are reversed the results are the same} $