The Constancy of the Speed of Light

This section provides a thought experiment to help understanding the second assumption of the special theory of relativity: The constancy of the speed of light.

To help us understanding the second assumption of the special theory of relativity: "The Constancy of the Speed of Light - The speed of light has the same value c measured in all inertial frames", we can use the following thought experiment.

The goal of the experiment is to measure the speed of a single light blip from two inertial frames:

Special Relativity - Speed of Light (virginia.edu)
Special Relativity - Speed of Light

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of Space

 Introduction of Frame of Reference

 Introduction of Time

 Introduction of Speed

 Newton's Laws of Motion

Introduction of Special Relativity

 Assumptions of Special Relativity

 What Is an Inertial Frame of Reference

 The Principle of Relativity

The Constancy of the Speed of Light

 Time Dilation in Special Relativity

 Length Contraction in Special Relativity

 The Relativity of Simultaneity

 Introduction of Spacetime

 Minkowski Spacetime and Diagrams

 Introduction of Hamiltonian

 Introduction of Lagrangian

 Introduction of Generalized Coordinates

 Phase Space and Phase Portrait

 References

 Full Version in PDF/ePUB