Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock]

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written by Roberto B. Salgado

This is a series of animations that demonstrate the tools used to understand Special Relativity and explain some of the unintuitive result of Special Relativity with graphical, animated diagrams. An understanding of basic terminology required. Topics covered are the worldline, light clock, time dilation, length contraction, and finally the twin-paradox.

http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Relativity - Miscellaneous - Special Relativity	- Lower Undergraduate	- Audio/Visual = Movie/Animation

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
- Learners	- video/mp4 - text/html - video/x-msvideo	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2001 Roberto B. Salgado
Keywords:: Length Contraction, Light Clock, Light Cone, Special Relativity, Time Dilation
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created August 1, 2006 by Rob Salgado
Record Updated:: May 28, 2019 by Bruce Mason
Last Update when Cataloged:: December 3, 2006
Other Collections:: The PSRC

The Physics Source

The Spacetime Emporium

mirror site has been set up

Author: Rob Salgado
Posted: January 28, 2015 at 9:55AM
Source: The PSRC collection

While the link to the original site should be retained,
I would like to include in this entry
a mirror site which I can update:
http://www.visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/

I have replaced the Real Player videos with MP4 videos.
The MP4 videos can now be viewed on an iPhone.

» reply

videos are available in two formats: avi and rm

Author: Rob Salgado
Posted: November 10, 2009 at 9:13PM
Source: The Spacetime Emporium collection

Windows Media Player is sufficient to view the larger but higher-quality .avi videos.
Real Player would be needed to view the smaller but lower-quality .rm videos.

» reply

Re: videos are available in two formats: avi and rm

Author: Bruce, ComPADRE Dir
Posted: Nov 10, 2009 10:18PM UTC

Thank you, Rob. I have updated the information.

>
> Windows Media
> Player is sufficient to view the larger but higher-quality
> .avi videos.
> Real Player would be needed to view the
> smaller but lower-quality .rm videos.

» reply

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=4160">Salgado, Roberto B.. Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock]. December 3, 2006.</a>

AIP Format

R. Salgado, (2001), WWW Document, (http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/).

AJP/PRST-PER

R. Salgado, Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock] (2001), <http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/>.

APA Format

Salgado, R. (2006, December 3). Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock]. Retrieved May 1, 2025, from http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/

Chicago Format

Salgado, Roberto B.. Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock]. December 3, 2006. http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/ (accessed 1 May 2025).

MLA Format

Salgado, Roberto B.. Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock]. 2001. 3 Dec. 2006. 1 May 2025 <http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Roberto B. Salgado", Title = {Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock]}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {1 May 2025}, Month = {December 3, 2006}, Year = {2001} }

Refer Export Format

%A Roberto B. Salgado %T Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock] %D December 3, 2006 %U http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/ %O video/mp4

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Salgado, Roberto B. %D December 3, 2006 %T Visualizing Proper Time in Special Relativity [with a Light Clock] %V 2025 %N 1 May 2025 %8 December 3, 2006 %9 video/mp4 %U http://visualrelativity.com/LIGHTCONE/LightClock/

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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

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