Physics 200, Section 01, Special Relativity: Fall 2009

This material can be found online at URL

http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys200/phys200.html

Outline for the course, class schedule, etc.

Lectures

• Week 1, Day A: Introduction, parable of the surveyors
• Week 1, Day B: A bit of history
• Week 1, Day C: Results of the Michelson-Morley experiment
• Week 2, Day A: Events: a good choice for units
• Week 2, Day B: Events: intelligent observers and synchronizing clocks
• Week 2, Day C: Events: making diagrams
• Week 3, Day A: Review space-time diagram from Week 2, Day C, then Inertial frames
• Week 3, Day B: Time dilation
• Week 3, Day C: Length contraction
• Week 4, Day A: Galilean transformations
• Week 4, Day B: The Lorentz transformations
• Week 4, Day C: Consequences of the Lorentz transformations
• Week 5, Day A: Paradox: the ladder and the barn
• Week 5, Day B: Relativistic Doppler effect
• Week 5, Day C: Test
• Week 6, Day A: Astronomical Spectra
• Week 6, Day B: The expanding universe
• Week 6, Day C: Superluminal motions?
• Week 7, Day A: The Twin Paradox, Part I
• Week 7, Day B: The Twin Paradox, Part II
• Week 7, Day C: The Twin Paradox, Part III
• Week 8, Day A: Kinetic Energy in the non-relativistic regime
• Week 8, Day B: Kinetic Energy in the relativistic regime
• Week 8, Day C: Momentum in the non-relativistic regime
• Week 9, Day A: Momentum in the relativistic regime
• Week 9, Day B: Space-Time and Momentum-Energy
• Week 9, Day C: Supernova 1987A and the mass of the neutrino (Part I)
• Week 10, Day A: Supernova 1987A and the mass of the neutrino (Part II)
• Week 10, Day B: The Compton Effect
• Week 10, Day C: IceCube
• Final Exam: Mon, Nov 16, 8:00 - 9:50 AM, 08-2355

Homework sets

In order to use the on-line homework system, you need to know your login name and your initial password. Your "login name" should be the same as your RIT E-mail address, something like abc1234. Your initial password should be the final 4-digits of your student RIT ID number, so if your ID number is 12345-6789, the initial password would be 6789. Include all zeroes: if your ID number is 12345-0081, then your initial password will be 0081. You can change your password from the default after you log in for the first time.

0. Introduction to Webwork system due Thursday, Sep 10, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 0
1. Converting units, Michelson-Morley experiment due Monday, Sep 14, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 1
2. Events and a bit of mathematical practice due Tuesday, Sep 22, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 2
3. Time dilation and length contraction due Wednesday, Sep 30, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 3
4. Lorentz transformations due Thursday, Oct 8, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 4
5. Twin Paradox, Part I due Monday, Oct 26, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 5
6. Twin Paradox, Part II due Wednesday, Nov 4, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 6
7. Kinetic energy due Friday, Nov 6, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 7
8. Momentum due Saturday, Nov 14, at 4:59 PM.
   • Answers to Homework 8
9. Practice problems
   which do NOT count towards your grade, but simply give you practice. Answers will be revealed on Friday, Nov 13, at 9:59 AM.
   • Answers to Homework 9

Extra Credit Projects

1. Nanogravity probe Due Friday, Oct 2, at 5 PM.
2. Building the side-track Due Friday, Oct 23, at 5 PM.
3. Clumsy aliens Due Friday, Oct 30, at 5 PM.
4. The decay of a proton Due Monday, Nov 9, at 5 PM.
5. Making a solar sail from aluminum foil This project requires a few bits of basic dynamics which you may not have seen in previous courses; please come talk to me in person if you have questions. Due Friday Nov 13, at 5 PM.

For more information:

There are many, many courses on special relativity taught in universities around the world. I'll list just a few here ... but you should search for sites which you enjoy and understand.

• Professor Vern Lindberg's notes for this course may act as a textbook for you this quarter. You may also want to see Professor Lindberg's home page for additional materials he has created.
• Lecture notes by Tatsu Takeuchi at Virginia Tech
• Lecture notes by David Hogg at New York University
• The Lorentz Transformation Animations are a set of applets which illustrate the ideas of special relativity.
• The Nine Planets website is a good place to get accurate information on objects in the solar system.
• The Review of Particle Physics is a good place to get accurate information on sub-atomic particles.
• This story about a real solar sail may be of interest to those who have tried the Solar Sail extra credit project.

This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Sep 5, 2009.

Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.