Length+Contraction-+Porath

__**Length Contraction or Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction by Allyson Porath**__

Length Contraction is when something seems smaller than it actually is. This is caused by the "length of objects moving at relativistic speed undergoes a contraction along the dimension of motion" ([|www.physicsclassroom.com/]). So if an observer was on a flat road and watched a spaceship fly by then the observer would see the spaceship and think that it's smaller than it actually is. This is actually because the object is being contracted in length and the amount of contraction depends on the speed at which the object is moving ([|www.physicsclassroom.com/]).

"The length of any object in a moving frame will appear foreshortened in the direction of motion, or contracted" ([]). The equation for Lorentz transformation is Lo = x'2 - x1 = x2 - vt2 - x1 + vt1 all divided by the square root of 1 - v2/c2. Lo = length measured by the observers on reference frame v = speed of object c = speed of light in a vacuum ([|www.phy.olemiss.edu/])