- #1
OneEye
A thought occurred to me when reading the Encarta article on relativity:
So, one would expect to see a corresponding, velocity-induced mass increase in the original sample, the laboratory, the earth, solar system, etc. - because of the relative velocity of those things from the point of view of the electron's frame of reference.
Right?
Now, it occurs to me that the velocity of the electron, being relative to the "original" reference frame of the radioactive sample, can also be considered to be the (relative) velocity of the radioactive sample, the laboratory, the earth, the solar system, etc. - if one only considers things from the electron's frame of reference.Relativity, Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
According to the relativistic transformation, not only would lengths in the line of a moving object be altered but also time and mass. A clock in motion relative to an observer would seem to be slowed down, and any material object would seem to increase in mass, both by the beta factor. The electron, which had just been discovered, provided a means of testing the last assumption. Electrons emitted from radioactive substances have speeds close to the speed of light, so that the value of beta, for example, might be as large as 0.5, and the mass of the electron doubled. The mass of a rapidly moving electron could be easily determined by measuring the curvature produced in its path by a magnetic field; the heavier the electron, the greater its inertia and the less the curvature produced by a given strength of field. Experimentation dramatically confirmed Einstein's prediction; the electron increased in mass by exactly the amount he predicted. Thus, the kinetic energy of the accelerated electron had been converted into mass in accordance with the formula E=mc2.
So, one would expect to see a corresponding, velocity-induced mass increase in the original sample, the laboratory, the earth, solar system, etc. - because of the relative velocity of those things from the point of view of the electron's frame of reference.
Right?