special relativity Flashcards
1
Q
How do observers see the speed of light?
A
Early experiments showed the speed of light in a vacuum is absolute
It never changes no matter how the light source or an observer is moving.
It doesn’t have to be measured relative to anything
It is the same for all observers 3 x 108 ms-1 in a vacuum
2
Q
What happens to the measurements of space, time and distance for all moving observers?
A
change relative to those for stationary observers, giving a rise in time dilation and length contraction
