Special Relativity Worksheet
Explore the fundamental principles of special relativity, including time dilation, length contraction, and mass-energy equivalence, with this Grade 11 physics worksheet.
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Special Relativity Worksheet
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Read each question carefully and answer to the best of your ability. Show all your work for calculation problems.
1. Which of the following is NOT a postulate of special relativity?
The laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion.
The speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all inertial observers.
The speed of light depends on the motion of the source.
All of the above are postulates.
2. What phenomenon describes the slowing down of time for an object in motion relative to an observer?
Length contraction
Time dilation
Mass-energy equivalence
Relativistic Doppler effect
3. The principle that the laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion is known as the .
4. According to special relativity, as an object's speed approaches the speed of light, its observed length along the direction of motion will .
5. The famous equation E=mc² relates and .
6. Briefly explain the concept of proper time in special relativity.
7. Describe a real-world example where the effects of special relativity are observable or must be accounted for.
8. If you were traveling in a spaceship at 0.9c (90% the speed of light) past Earth, observers on Earth would see your clock running faster than theirs.
True
False
9. Length contraction means that an object appears shorter to an observer when it is moving perpendicular to the observer's line of sight.
True
False
10. A spaceship travels past Earth at 0.8c. An astronaut on the spaceship measures the length of the ship to be 100 meters. What length would an observer on Earth measure the spaceship to be?