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[1] In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of a non-rotating object of mass m traveling at a speed v is . [2] The kinetic energy of an object is equal to the work, or force in the direction of motion times its displacement , needed to accelerate the object from rest to its given speed.
Its initial value is 1 (when v = 0); and as velocity approaches the speed of light (v → c) γ increases without bound (γ → ∞). α (Lorentz factor inverse) as a function of velocity—a circular arc. In the table below, the left-hand column shows speeds as different fractions of the speed of light (i.e. in units of c). The middle column ...
The usual treatment (e.g., Albert Einstein's original work) is based on the invariance of the speed of light. However, this is not necessarily the starting point: indeed (as is described, for example, in the second volume of the Course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz), what is really at stake is the locality of interactions: one supposes that the influence that one particle, say ...
The following notations are used very often in special relativity: Lorentz factor = where = and v is the relative velocity between two inertial frames.. For two frames at rest, γ = 1, and increases with relative velocity between the two inertial frames.
Log-log plot of γ (blue), v/c (cyan), and η (yellow) versus proper velocity w/c (i.e. momentum p/mc).Note that w/c is tracked by v/c at low speeds and by γ at high speeds. The dashed red curve is γ − 1 (kinetic energy K/mc 2), while the dashed magenta curve is the relativistic Doppler factor.
This equation holds for a body or system, such as one or more particles, with total energy E, invariant mass m 0, and momentum of magnitude p; the constant c is the speed of light. It assumes the special relativity case of flat spacetime [1] [2] [3] and that the particles are free.
It is instructive to look at the total relativistic energy of a free test particle. An observer in the lab frame defines events by coordinates r and coordinate time t, and measures the particle to have coordinate velocity v = dr/dt. By contrast, an observer moving with the particle will record a different time, this is the proper time, τ.
Jain is writing for engineers who need to apply KE to practical problems. Assigning object KE is a routine part of newtonian mechanics. The total KE of a system is partitioned among the objects as part of leveraging conservation of energy. That does not mean KE is an intrinsic property of the objects, but rather a form of bookkeeping.