Physical

Science 11
Physical Science – Grade 11
Quarter 4 – Self-Learning Module 14: Consequences of The Postulates of Special
Relativity Theory!
First Edition, 2020

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 Physical
Science 11
Quarter 4
Self-Learning Module 14
Consequences of The Postulates of The
Special Relativity Theory
Introductory Message

For the Facilitator:

Welcome to the Physical Science Grade 11 Self-Learning Module 14 on

Consequences of The Postulates of The Special Relativity Theory!

This Self-Learning Module was collaboratively designed, developed, and

reviewed by educators from the Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its
Officer-in-Charge Schools Division Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A.
Agustin, in partnership with the City Government of Pasig through its mayor,
Honorable Victor Ma. Regis N. Sotto. The writers utilized the standards set by the K
to 12 Curriculum using the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) in
developing this instructional resource.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners in guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st century skills especially the 5 Cs, namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to
manage their own learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the
learners as they do the tasks included in the module.
For the Learner:

Welcome to the Physical Science Self-Learning Module 14 on Consequences of

The Postulates of Special Relativity Theory!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning material while being an active
learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectations - This points to the set of knowledge and skills

that you will learn after completing the module.

Pretest - This measures your prior knowledge about the lesson

at hand.

Recap - This part of the module provides a review of concepts

and skills that you already know about a previous lesson.

Lesson - This section discusses the topic in the module.

Activities - This is a set of activities that you need to perform.

Wrap-Up - This section summarizes the concepts and

application of the lesson.

Valuing - This part integrates a desirable moral value in the

lesson.

Posttest - This measures how much you have learned from the
entire module.
 EXPECTATIONS
After going through this module, you are expected to:
1. explain the consequences of the postulates of Special Relativity Theory;
2. calculate the effect of time dilation, length contraction and mass-energy
equivalence;
3. describe the consequence of the postulates of special relativity theory.

PRETEST
Direction: Put a check (/) if the statement stated concerning the Consequences of
The Postulates of Special Relativity Theory

1. Rest mass, the mass of a body when it is not moving relative

to an observer
2. The special theory of relativity has two postulates.

3. The detection by an observer of a reduction in length of

objects traveling at some non-zero velocity relative to the
observer.
4. The principle of simultaneity relativity states that simultaneity
(whether two phenomena occur at the same time) is relative to the
observer's frame of reference.
5. The speed of light is constant and the same for all observers
regardless of their CONSTANT VELOCITY toward or away from
the light source.

RECAP
Special Theory of
Relativity

1st POSTULATE 2nd POSTULATE

. .
 LESSON

We have now discussed Albert Einstein's two postulates, which arose from a
conflict between James Clerk Maxwell's Theory of Electromagnetics and Isaac
Newton's Three Laws of Motion.

The Special Relativity Theory predicts how events are measured with multiple
observers who are moving in relation to the event. An "event" is simply a physical
occurrence.

The Special Relativity demonstrated that space and time are not mutually
related but can be combined into one another, and therefore must be viewed as one
object, which we can refer to as space-time. The following are the consequences of
combining space and time:

Consequences of The Postulates of Special Relativity Theory

1. Relativity of Simultaneity

The principle of simultaneity relativity states that simultaneity (whether two

phenomena occur at the same time) is relative to the observer's frame of reference.
For two observers, it is unlikely for the two events to occur at the same time.
Two lightning strikes may hit the front and back ends of a moving train at the same
time from the perspective of an observer inside the train, but the lightning strikes
may not occur at the same time from the perspective of an observer outside the train.
Imagine the front and back of a train are hit by lightning (points A’ and B’),
and lightning strikes the ground at points A and B. Inside the train, Avery moves
toward the light coming from the front of the train and away from the lightning
coming from the back of the train.

Avery

Kyrie

Figure 1. Copyright 2008 Pearson Education Inc

Because Avery sees the light at the front of the train first, she believes that the
lightning at the front of the train hit first. While Kyrie Sees the lightning hit the two
points at the same time; thus, he believes that the lightning hit the front and the
back of the train simultaneously. At this point, the lightning strike at the front of the
train has not yet reached Avery.
 Figure 2. Copyright 2008 Pearson Education Inc

There is only one event taking place for all observers. Event 1 and 2 was
simultaneous for observer B, but not for observer A. This is the Theory of
Simultaneous Relativity. An event is only simultaneous for an observer, but not
necessarily simultaneous for another observer.
2. Time Dilation

Time dilation is the difference in elapsed time between two occurrences as

determined by observers traveling relative to each other.

For example, in spacecraft, Observer A is in a spacecraft traveling through

space at a steady speed, while Observer B is on earth at rest, Observer A has a “light
clock”, which is made up of a ball of light that bounces from one mirror to the next.
This is referred to as proper time, a time measured by a clock at rest relative to the
event expressed as Δt0.

However, from the perspective of Observer B on Earth, the light’s direction will
not be vertical, but will have a horizontal dimension since the spacecraft is traveling
at a constant velocity. From the perspective of Observe B, the time interval for the
ball of light to pass from the lower mirror to the upper mirror and back to the lower
mirror is denoted by t, or the dilated time.

Figure 2. Time dilation

Time dilation is an observable and actual phenomenon. The term for dilated t
ime is t'. The following is the time dilation equation:

t’ Time
measured from an observer
outsid
e the frame of reference.
t Time
measured from an observer.
inside
the frame of reference.
v Speed of the
object
c speed of light
at 300,000 km/s
EXAMPLE:
Observer A boards a spacecraft and SOLUTION:
travels at 0.800 times the speed of light
beyond Earth. Observer B remains on
Earth. They all launch timers the moment
Observer A ship passes Earth. Observer
A keeps an eye on her timer and ends it as
it reaches 60.0 seconds. How much time
will Observer B timer tell say has passed?
When Observer A is in a reference
frame that is traveling at 0.800c relative to
Observer B’s reference frame and Observer
A sees 60.0 seconds pass, Observer B gets
100 seconds’ pass. FINAL ANSWER

3. Length Contraction

The length contraction is the physical phenomenon, the detection by an

observer of a reduction in length of objects traveling at some non-zero velocity relative
to the observer. The assumption that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant in
every frame of reference causes length contraction.
Example:

1. A crew member of a spaceship measures the ship's length to be 100 m. The ship
flies past Earth at a speed of 0.900 times the speed of light. If observers on Earth
measure the length of the ship, what would they measure?
Conclusion: The ship's crew member's reference frame is the one in which the ship
is at rest. The measured length of the crew member is Δl0, which is the proper length.
The contracted length Δl is measured by observers on Earth. The observers on Earth
measure the length of the ship to be 43.6 m. This is less than the 100 m length
measured in the reference frame of the ship's crew member.
The observed length is always shorter than the proper length. This effect is
called length contraction. Both Δl0 and Δl are measured in meters (m).
The contracted length can be calculated using the following:

Δl0 = the
proper length, in the reference
frame in which the object is at rest (m)
Δl = the observed
length, in the reference
frame in which the
object is moving (m)
v = Speed of
Show your solution: the object
c = speed of light at
300,000 km/s
 4. Mass-energy Equivalence

The famous physics concept of mass-energy equivalence, expressed

mathematically by E=m𝑐 2 , states that mass and energy are one and the same. Albert
Einstein was the first to explain a precise relationship for it in his theory of special
relativity, which is where he first wrote down this famous equation.

E = m𝑐 2
where E = energy
m = mass
c = speed of light

The energy open object as measured by an observer in the same reference

frame is known as rest mass energy. The total energy of an object includes both its
rest mass energy and its kinetic energy. The energy possessed by an entity purely
because of its mass is known as rest mass energy. Since c is such a large number,
this equation means that anything with mass including those at rest, contains
inherent energy like kinetic energy, chemical energy, mechanical energy, nuclear
energy, and so on. Example of burning a gallon of gasoline produces million joules of
energy and converts the entire mass.
5. Cosmic Speed Limit
For decades, scientists believed that the speed at which an entity could fly has
no limits. However, Einstein demonstrated that there is a speed limit to the universe:
the speed of light in a vacuum (that is, empty space). Nothing can fly at a speed of
300,000 km/s (186,000 miles per second). At such speed, only massless particles
can fly, like photons, which make up light. Every material substance cannot be
accelerated beyond the speed of light because it will require an unlimited amount of
energy.
So, why aren't you able to fly faster than the speed of light?
The larger an object becomes as it moves further. It takes more and more
energy to accelerate the speed of an accelerating force as it absorbs mass and hence
gets heavier. An infinite amount of energy will be used to accelerate an object to the
speed of light.
 ACTIVITIES
Activity 1

Directions: Analyze and compute the following questions. (5pts each).

1. One night you are out looking up at the stars and an extraterrestrial spaceship
flashes across the sky. The ship is 50 meters long and is travelling at 95 percent of
the speed of light. What would the ship’s length be when measured from your
earthbound frame of reference?

2. The star alpha centauri is 4.3 light years away. If a spacecraft could travel at a
speed v = 0.95 c, how long would an earth observer say a trip to that star would it
take?

Activity 2

I- Direction: Write the word described in the sentence.

1. __________ The length of time of some event as observed by a person at rest with
respect to the event.
2. __________The length of an object observed by a person at rest with respect to the
object.
3. __________The length of time of some event as observed by a person moving with
respect to the event.
4. __________The length of an object observed by a person moving with respect to the
object.
5. __________ (whether two phenomena occur at the same time) is relative to the
observer's frame of reference.

II- Direction: Write the Equations or formula below.

6. length of 7. Time dilation 8. Mass-energy 9.speed of 10. contracted

contraction formula Equivalence light length symbol
equation
formula
 Activity 3
Twin Paradox

Direction: Read the situation and justify it. Write 3-5 sentences to describe the
situation.
Ken and Paul are identical twins. They get the same collections of all when
they grow up. They also share a clock that strikes the same hour. Ken was a member
of a space program that looked for signs of other inhabited worlds outside our solar
system.
Ken space shuttle has traveled to the outer reaches of the solar system, around 5.3
light-years. In 5 years, he was away from earth and then returned. Flying nonstop at
constant velocity for another 5 years. Paul, in the meantime he awaited his brother’s
return home. Ken’s shuttle arrived on earth after ten years in orbit of around 10.6
light years traveled. People were surprised to discover that the identical twin was no
longer identical! As compared to Ken, Paul seemed to have aged more.
Consider what could have happened to the identical twins. Is this related to
time dilation?

WRAP-UP

Relativity of
Simultaneity
The principle of
simultaneity relativity
states that simultaneity
(whether two phenomena Consequences of
occur at the same time) is
relative to the observer's The Postulates of
frame of reference.
Special Relativity
Theory
 VALUING
Consequences of The Postulates of Special Relativity Theory

Special Relativity demonstrated that space and time are not mutually
exclusive but can be combined with one another, and therefore must be viewed as
one object, which we can refer to as space-time. Time dilation and length contraction
are two effects of space/time combination.

Have you ever been on a road that seemed to go and on? Looking ahead, you
might estimate that you have about 10 kilometers to go. Another traveler might
estimate that the road ahead is about 15 kilometers long. However, if you both
weighed the lane, you would come to the same conclusion. The distance you both
calculate would be the same if you were traveling at normal speeds.

Can you explain one of the Postulates of Special Relativity theory’s

Consequences, namely time dilation, to a traffic signal where a car would stop?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

POSTTEST
Direction: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a
separate sheet of paper.
1. What does this expression represent:

a. time dilation
b. relativistic factor
c. relativistic energy
d. length contraction

2. A spaceship is travelling on space at a constant speed of 75% the speed of light.

How long is one year on that spaceship compared to one year on Earth?
 a. 0.13 years
b. 1 year
c. 1.51 years
d. 2.13 years

3. What is the relationship between the binding energy and the mass defect of an
atomic nucleus?
a. The binding energy is the energy equivalent of the mass defect, as given by
E0 = mc.
b. The binding energy is the energy equivalent of the mass defect, as given by
E0 = m𝑐 2 .
c. The binding energy is the energy equivalent of the mass defect, as given
𝑚
by E0= 𝑐
d. The binding energy is the energy equivalent of the mass defect, as given
𝑚
by E0=𝑐 2.

4. Simultaneity is defined as
a. dilated
b. absolute
c. invariant
d. relative

5. Time travels faster as an object reaches the speed of light slowly and steadily. What
would happen if that object would supposedly reach the speed of light?

a. time will stop

b. time will return to normal equal to the time on Earth
c. time will theoretically start to speed up
d. time will theoretically start to reverse
8. E0 = m. Activities
9. 300,000 m/s
Post test
ACTIVITY 1 A
10. Δl
1. 16m C
RECAP 2. The earth observer says the B
1ST Postulate trip takes
The Relativity Postulate, Δt = 4.3 / 0.95
D
where it is assumed that the = 4.5 years D
laws of physics are the same Activity 2
in all inertial reference.
2nd postulate 1. proper time
The Speed of Light 2. proper length Pretest
Postulate, where it is 3. dilated time
assumed that the speed of 4. contracted length 1. /
light in a vacuum is always 5. simultaneity 2.
the same. 6.
3. /
4. /
7.
5. TRUE
KEY TO CORRECTION
References

American Museum of Natural History. “Cosmic Speed Limit.” Accessed June 7, .

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Time dilation." Encyclopedia Britannica, June 21, 2019.
https://www.britannica.com/science/time-dilation.

Siegel, Ethan. 2018. “The Three Meanings Of E=mc², Einstein’s Most Famous .

april 11, 2019. "Is The Twin Paradox Still a Paradox?"

https://moviesandscience.com/blog/science/twin-paradox.

Mar 26, 2020. "Consequences of special relativity theory." In Physics, by Roger Hinrichs Paul Peter
Urone, 10.2. Houston, Texas: OpenStax.

april 18, 2019. "Special theory of relativity." In flexbook. CK 12 INTERACTIVE PHYSICS FOR HIGH
SCHOOL.