Special Relativity: Announcements
Special Relativity: Announcements
Special Relativity: Announcements
Announcements:
• Homework solutions will soon be
CULearn
• Homework set 1 returned today.
• Homework #2 is due today.
• Homework #3 is posted – due
next Wed.
• First midterm is 2 weeks from Christian Doppler
tomorrow. (1803—1853)
Today we will investigate the relativistic
Doppler effect and look at momentum and
energy.
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys2170/ Physics 2170 – Fall 2013 1
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We defined momentum as
A B
Particle A has half the mass but twice the speed of particle B.
If the particles’ momenta are pA and pB, then
A. pA > pB
B. pA = pB
C. pA < pB
A B
Particle A has half the mass but twice the speed of particle B.
If the particles’ momenta are pA and pB, then
Energy!
γum has units of mass (kg); to give it units of energy,
can multiply by c2 (which we know is constant).
So let us postulate that energy is
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys2170/ Physics 2170 – Fall 2013 18
Energy
Total energy of an object moving at speed u is
What do we get for the total energy when an object is at rest?
At rest, γu=1 so the rest energy is Maybe you have
heard of this
Furthermore, we can define kinetic energy one before?☺
as the total energy minus the rest energy:
A. B.
u u
c c
E E
C. D.
u u
c c
E. None of them
A. B.
u u As the velocity u
c c increases towards
E E c, the energy
increases. But for
C. D. u→c, γ→∞ so it is
impossible for a
u u particle to reach c
c c as it would need
E. None of them infinite energy.