What is Lorentz contraction?
What is Lorentz Contraction? Lorentz contraction is a phenomenon of shortening of the length dimension of an object, in the direction that is parallel to its velocity of movement, with respect to a stationary frame and observable from it. This shortening of the object is directly proportional to its velocity. This phenomenon was shown to be as a consequence of the postulates of special theory of relativity by Albert Einstein in 1905. The constancy of speed of light and the requirement that all laws of physics be the same in all inertial reference frames inevitably lead to the effect of Lorentz contraction. Consider a horizontal ruler traveling at speeds substantially close to the speed of light (which is about 3 x 108 m/s) in a parallel direction to its length. For a stationary observer, observing the ruler, it will appear to have shrunk horizontally! This is Lorentz contraction. Now you must be wondering why don’t we see Formula 1 cars or buses shrinking as they move at high speeds? T
