Special relativity

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/special-relativity

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Special relativity?1905 by Albert Einstein
2. What is the postulate 1?The laws of physics are the same for all inertial observers
3. What is the key equation?E=mc², demonstrating the equivalence of mass and energy
4. Why does light always travel at the same speed?Einstein said that light’s speed in a vacuum is the same for everyone, even if the light comes from a moving spaceship. This means light doesn’t add the spaceship’s speed to its own.
5. How does time change when something moves fast?When something moves fast, time for it slows down compared to someone who is still. This is called time dilation and is described by the factor γ.

Inertial Frame of Reference: A frame of reference where an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion continues in motion at a constant velocity.
Lorentz Factor (γ): A factor that quantifies how much time, length, and relativistic mass of an object change when the object is moving.
Spacetime: A unified four-dimensional continuum that combines the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time.