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Natural Sciences · Advanced

Special Relativity

Follow Einstein's reasoning from one strange fact (everyone measures the same speed of light) to its astonishing consequences: moving clocks run slow, moving objects shrink, "at the same time" depends on who's asking, and mass is a form of energy. Then fly through a starfield at near light speed and follow protons around the Large Hadron Collider.

7 lessons~35 min0/7 complete
Start courseHelpful background: Motion, and Energy
1

Light and Time

A constant speed of light changes everything.

  1. The Speed of LightThe same for everyone
  2. Moving Clocks Run SlowThe light clock
2

Space, Simultaneity and Energy

Shrinking lengths, relative “now”, and E = mc².

  1. Shrinking RulersLength contraction
  2. What Is “Now”?The relativity of simultaneity
  3. E = mc²Mass is energy
3

Seeing and Smashing

What a fast traveller sees, and particle accelerators.

  1. The View from a Fast ShipRelativistic Doppler shift and aberration
  2. Energy at High SpeedKinetic energy, momentum and accelerators

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