How I Learned To Stop Worrying About Speed and Love Light, or Prepared and Presented by Mauricio Campuzano GK-12 Fellow Stevens Institute of Technology 1

 Imagine you are on a train…  How fast does Nolan see the ball go? 2

 James Clerk Maxwell was a genius! As Einstein put it, “[his work is the] most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.”  He unified the theory of Electromagnetism  A primary result is that light is an electromagnetic wave, with a speed c = (µ o ε o ) -1 = 3x10 8 m/s  Moreover, the speed of light appears to be constant in a vacuum  PS: He was one of the first to propose what would later be known as dimensional analysis 3

 If the speed of light is constant...  How fast does Nolan see light going? 4

 1. The principle of relativity. The laws of physics apply in all inertial reference systems. (Inertial system = Moving at a constant speed, also know as non-accelerating frames)  2. The universal speed of light. The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all inertial observers, regardless of the motion of the source. 5

 A better question: What time does Dave see on his watch?  Moving clocks run more slowly than a stationary clocks.  Twins in Space show time is relative…  And the equation is: 6

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 Moving objects are shorter than objects at rest  Yet another equation:  “The barn and the ladder” 8

 Mass increases as a function of speed!  No such thing as “simultaneous”  Rest energy of any particle is… E = mc 2 9

  D. Griffiths “Introduction to Electrodynamics,” 2e   ty/ ty/  P. A. Tipler, R. A. Llewellyn “Modern Physics” 3e 10