- #1
penroseandpaper
- 21
- 0
Hi everyone,
We've just started special relativity and I'm just wondering if you'd mind clarifying something for me.
The transformation is described as x'=x-vt, where x' is moving relative to x. However, in the diagram I've attached, x' is ahead of x ; so why is the transformation described with -vt? Is this because we're calculating x' with regards to frame a, which is "traveling" in the opposite direction to x'and therefore x' sits to the negative of x=0?
I'm confused because if that is the case, why isn't the positive x direction given as that opposite to x'?
Any advice or examples would be greatly appreciated.
Penn
We've just started special relativity and I'm just wondering if you'd mind clarifying something for me.
The transformation is described as x'=x-vt, where x' is moving relative to x. However, in the diagram I've attached, x' is ahead of x ; so why is the transformation described with -vt? Is this because we're calculating x' with regards to frame a, which is "traveling" in the opposite direction to x'and therefore x' sits to the negative of x=0?
I'm confused because if that is the case, why isn't the positive x direction given as that opposite to x'?
Any advice or examples would be greatly appreciated.
Penn