STEMGENPHYSICS2 - HO 3

Maranatha Christian Academy

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
A.Y 2020 - 2021

Modern Physics: RELATIVITY

I. Modern Physics
• started around the beginning of the 20th century
• showed that Newton’s laws were incomplete
• Newton’s laws only apply to objects of macroscopic size (bigger than protons and electrons)
and relatively small speeds (much less than the speed of light)

Branches of Modern Physics:

• Atomic and Nuclear Physics – study of the composition, structure and behavior of the nucleus
of the atom
• Quantum Physics – study of the discrete nature of phenomena at the atomic and subatomic
levels. Its focus is on the indivisible units of energy called quanta as described by the Quantum
Theory (physics of the very, very small (protons, electrons, …)
• Relativistic Physics – study of phenomena that take place in frame of reference that is in
motion with respect to an observer, physics of the very, very fast (speeds approaching c)
• Solid State Physics – study of all the properties of solid materials, including electrical
conduction in crystals of semiconductors and metals, superconductivity and photoconductivity
• Condensed Matter Physics – study of the properties of condensed materials (solids, liquids
and those intermediate between them, and dense gas) with the ultimate goal of developing
new materials with better properties
• Plasma Physics – study of the fourth state of matter
• Low-Temperature Physics – study of the production and maintenance of temperatures down to
almost absolute zero, and the various phenomena that occur only at such temperature

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) - published three papers of extraordinary importance

1. an analysis of Brownian motion
2. photoelectric effect (Nobel Prize)
3. special theory of relativity

II. Special Relativity

• In 1905, Albert Einstein described in his theory of Special Relativity how
measurements of time and space are affected by the motion between the
observer and what is being observed.
• The Theory of Special Relativity revolutionized the world of physics by
connecting space and time, matter and energy, and electricity and
magnetism
Postulates of Relativity:
1. The laws of Physics are the same in every inertial frame of reference. (No
experiment can be done in an inertial reference frame to detect its state of
motion.)
2. The speed of light (3 x 108 m/s) is the same in all inertial frames of reference and is independent
of the motion of the source (The speed of light in vacuum has the same value when measured
by any observer, regardless of the observer’s state of motion.)
Inertial Reference Frame
• An inertial reference frame is one
▪ in which no accelerations are observed in the
absence of external forces (acceleration is the
result of a force)
▪ that is not accelerating
▪ Newton’s laws hold in all inertial reference
frames.
Noninertial Reference Frames
• A noninertial reference frame is one that is
accelerating with respect to an inertial reference
frame.
• In a noninertial reference frame, bodies have
accelerations in the absence of applied forces.

Special Relativity Consequences

• Time dilates: Time to moving objects appear to slow down
• Length shrinks: Moving objects appear shorter
• Mass increases: Moving objects appear to be massive

A. Time dilation
• However, the two observers will agree on their measurement of the speed of light. Since
speed equals distance divided by time, both observers will measure the same ratio of space
(distance) and time
Time dilation
• Moving clocks run slow.
• Time passes more slowly in a reference frame
that is moving than in a reference frame that is
at rest.
• Time dilation has nothing to do with the
mechanics of clocks but with the nature of time
itself

Length Contraction
• The lengths of objects appear to be
contracted (shortened) when they move at
relativistic speeds.
• This length contraction is really a contraction
of space.
• As the speed increases, length in the
direction of motion decreases. Lengths in the
perpendicular direction do not change.

Mass increases
• The mass of an object moving at a speed v
relative to the observer is larger than its mass
when at rest relative to the observer
III. General Theory of Relativity
• Relativity refers to the observation of the motion of a body by two different observers in relative
motion to each other
• General Theory of Relativity is a geometrical theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein
in 1915
• Unifies special relativity and Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation with the insight that
gravitation is not due to a force but rather is a manifestation of curved space and time, with this
curvature being produced by the mass-energy and momentum content of the space-time.

General Relativity parts:

• equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass (Galileo’s principle)
• laws of physics same in freely falling lab as in lab at rest far from any mass
• physical laws in accelerating lab same as in stationary lab in gravitational field

• “Equivalence Principle”:
▪ Observers cannot distinguish
between inertial forces due to
acceleration and uniform
gravitational forces due to a
massive body.
▪ Consequence: Gravity, inertia, and
acceleration are related to the
curvature of space-time

• “Mass tells space how to curve.

Curvature tells mass how to
accelerate”

• In the context of the Theory of

General Relativity, gravitation was
redefined as a property of the space-
time continuum. The force was
replaced by the strength of the
curvature of the space which is
depending on the mass and the size
of an object, i.e., its ability to bend space.

• currently the most successful gravitational

theory, being almost universally accepted
and well confirmed by observations such
as:
a. gravitational redshift
b. deflection of light by mass
c. bending of light by gravitation
A. Gravitational redshift
• the effect when light or other
forms of electromagnetic radiation
of a certain wavelength originating
from a source placed in a region
of stronger gravitational field (and
which could be said to have
climbed "uphill" out of a gravity
well) will be found to be of longer
wavelength when received by an
observer in a region of weaker gravitational field.
• If applied to optical wave-lengths this manifests itself as a change in the color of the light as
the wavelength is shifted toward the red (making it less energetic, longer in wavelength, and
lower in frequency) part of the spectrum
• Light leaving a region where the gravitational force is large will be shifted towards the red (its
wavelength increases; similarly, light falling into a region where the gravitational pull is larger
will be shifted towards the blue.

B. Deflection of light by mass

• One immediate consequence of the curvature of the space-time is that light must also be
subject to gravity

• Figure above shows a beam of light from a star passing by the Sun and continuing on to the
Earth. Because the light ray is bent, the star appears to be shifted from its actual location.
This prediction was first tested in 1919 during a total solar eclipse.
• A light ray arriving from the left would be bent inwards such that its apparent direction of
origin, when viewed from the right, would differ by an angle (α, the deflection angle, see
diagram) whose size is inversely proportional to the distance (d) of the closest approach of
the ray path to the center of mass.

C. Bending of Light by Gravitation

• Light travels always the shortest distance in a curved space-time.

D. Perihelion Precession of the Mercury

• As Mercury orbits the Sun, it follows an ellipse...but only approximately: it is found that the
point of closest approach of Mercury to the sun does not always occur at the same place but
that it slowly moves around the sun. This rotation of the orbit is called a precession.
• All the planetary orbits precess and
Newton's theory predicts these
effects, as being produced by the pull
of the planets on one another. . The
precession of the orbits of all planets
except for Mercury's can, in fact, be
understood using Newton’s
equations. But Mercury seemed to be
an exception.
• As seen from Earth the precession of
Mercury's orbit is measured to be
5600 seconds of arc per century (one second of arc=1/3600 degrees). Newton's equations,
predicts a precession of 5557 seconds of arc per century. There is a discrepancy of 43
seconds of arc per century.
• Most of the effect is due to the pull from the other planets but there is a measurable effect
due to the corrections to Newton's theory predicted by the General Theory of Relativity.