Learning Goal
Postulates of Special Relativity
Teacher tools for this standard
Lesson Plan · Guided Notes · Exit Ticket · Re-teach · Homework
Teacher tools for this standard
Lesson Plan · Guided Notes · Exit Ticket · Re-teach · Homework
- Lesson Plan →Objectives, pacing and practice, built from this lesson's brief.
- Guided Notes →One page your students fill in and keep.
- Exit Ticket →Three items at the end of class. No student accounts.
- Re-teach →After an exit ticket: who missed what, and what to do tomorrow.
- Homework →Assign practice; it grades itself.
"1. The laws of physics are the same in all inertial reference frames. 2. The speed of light is the same in all inertial reference frames and is not affected by the speed of its source."
"This result led to two conclusions: that there is no ether and that the speed of light is the same regardless of the relative motion of source and observer. The Michelson–Morley investigation has been called the most famous failed experiment in history."
"Simultaneity, or whether different events occur at the same instant, depends on the frame of reference of the observer."
"Einstein's theory did not replace Newton's but rather extended it."
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"1. The laws of physics are the same in all inertial reference frames. 2. The speed of light is the same in all inertial reference frames and is not affected by the speed of its source."
"This result led to two conclusions: that there is no ether and that the speed of light is the same regardless of the relative motion of source and observer. The Michelson–Morley investigation has been called the most famous failed experiment in history."
"Simultaneity, or whether different events occur at the same instant, depends on the frame of reference of the observer."
"Einstein's theory did not replace Newton's but rather extended it."
What you'll learn
- Describe the experiments and scientific problems that led Einstein to develop the special theory of relativity
- Explain what a frame of reference is and what makes a reference frame inertial
- State the two postulates of special relativity in their own words
- Explain the Michelson–Morley experiment and why its null result was significant
- Explain why simultaneity depends on the observer's frame of reference
Slides
Step through the lesson, or watch it as a narrated video
Slides
In development
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