Understanding Relativity With Spacetime DiagramsFrom Mica
A talk by Dr. Rob Knop, 2010 April 10 at 10:00AM PDT at the MICA Large Amphitheater In a previous talk entitled Time Dilation and Simultaneity in Special Relativity, I showed how Special Relativity leads to the conclusion that moving clocks run slow, and that clocks synchronized for one observer are not synchronized for an observer moving relative to the first observer. In this talk, I'll summarize those results, and then introduce a powerful visual tool for understanding Relativity: spacetime diagrams. I'll show how time dilation, simultaneity, and length contraction fit in with this tool. In a future talk, I'll then use this tool to show the resolution of some of relativity's so-called "paradoxes", including the famous "twin paradox". MediaNo known audio recording (Troy couldn't make it that day) |
