Thread: Special theory of relativity

"The laws of physics are the same in all inertial frame of references". This is one of the postulates of the special theory of relativity. Could someone please explain the meaning of this statement?

it says that the laws of physics is the same no matter how you look at it, if you move at say .99C the constant G is still the same as if you move .5C or 0C. Everylaw of physics is the same no matter how fast you are moving

Or more to the point since the speed of light itself is a critical value in physics: the speed of light is the same no matter what speed you yourself are traveling at. That is no matter what your speed is, light comes toward you and travels away from you in all directions at 300,000,000 m/s. Ergo, you cannot catch up to the speed of light.

no mitchellmckain the 2 statements einstein had in SR is
1: speed of light, C, is the same to all observers
2: The laws of physics are the same in all inertial frame of references
but it is basacly the same

Originally Posted by Zelos

no mitchellmckain the 2 statements einstein had in SR is
1: speed of light, C, is the same to all observers
2: The laws of physics are the same in all inertial frame of references
but it is basacly the same

True. Formally this is probably neccessary. But the ideas behind these two postulates do seem connected to me.

they are, but i think its wierd ppl didnt realise that C have to be constant with maxwells formulas, they claim that C must allways be C

Originally Posted by Zelos

they are, but i think its wierd ppl didnt realise that C have to be constant with maxwells formulas, they claim that C must allways be C

For photon's benefit let me explain a little. The letter c represents the speed of light in a vacuum (about 3x10^8 m/s) and this value appears in Maxwell's equations which are the basic equations for the electric and magnetic fields. So this represents a connection between the invariability of the speed of light and the invariability of the laws of physics. Light is an electro-magnetic wave and so the velocity of these waves can also be derived from Maxwell's equations. So the speed of light can only depend on how fast you are traveling (also known as your inertial frame) if Maxwell's equations also depend on how fast you are traveling (your inertial frame).

But they didn't: the formula for C is speed independent.

Edited by Ophiolite for typography, because he is getting really tired of sloppy typing that makes it difficult for readers to understand.