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Introduction to SAT II Physics - FreeExamPapers

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Einstein’s first postulate tells us that neither the passenger on the train nor the person on<br />

the platform is wrong. It’s just as correct <strong>to</strong> say that the train is still and the Earth is<br />

moving as it is <strong>to</strong> say that the Earth is still and the train is moving. Any inertial reference<br />

frame is as good as any other.<br />

Second Postulate<br />

The speed of light in a vacuum is a constant— m/s—in every reference frame,<br />

regardless of the motion of the observer or the source of the light.<br />

This postulate goes against everything we’ve learned about vec<strong>to</strong>r addition. According <strong>to</strong><br />

the principles of vec<strong>to</strong>r addition, if I am in a car moving at 20 m/s and collide with a wall,<br />

the wall will be moving at 20 m/s relative <strong>to</strong> me. If I am in a car moving at 20 m/s and<br />

collide with a car coming at me at 30 m/s, the other car will be moving at 50 m/s relative<br />

<strong>to</strong> me.<br />

By contrast, the second postulate says that, if I’m standing still, I will measure light <strong>to</strong> be<br />

moving at<br />

m/s, or c, relative <strong>to</strong> me, and if I’m moving <strong>to</strong>ward the source of light<br />

at one half of the speed of light, I will still observe the light <strong>to</strong> be moving at c relative <strong>to</strong><br />

me.<br />

By following out the consequences of this postulate—a postulate supported by the<br />

Michelson-Morley experiment—we can derive all the peculiar results of special relativity.<br />

Time Dilation<br />

One of the most famous consequences of relativity is time dilation: time slows down at<br />

high speeds. However, it’s important <strong>to</strong> understand exactly what this means. One of the<br />

consequences of the first postulate of special relativity is that there is no such thing as<br />

absolute speed: a person on a train is just as correct in saying that the platform is moving<br />

backward as a person on the platform is in saying that the train is moving forward.<br />

Further, both the person on the train and the person on the platform are in inertial<br />

reference frames, meaning that all the laws of physics are <strong>to</strong>tally normal. Two people on a<br />

moving train can play table tennis without having <strong>to</strong> account for the motion of the train.<br />

The point of time dilation is that, if you are moving relative <strong>to</strong> me in a very highspeed<br />

train at one-half the speed of light, it will appear <strong>to</strong> me that time is moving slower on<br />

board the train. On board the train, you will feel like time is moving at its normal speed.<br />

Further, because you will observe me moving at one-half the speed of light relative <strong>to</strong><br />

you, you will think time is going more slowly for me.<br />

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