Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction
Origin of Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction
1- Also called Lorentz contraction .
Words Nearby Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction
- lore
- Lorelei
- Loren
- Lorena
- Lorentz
- Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction
- Lorentz force
- Lorentz transformation
- Lorenz
- Lorenzetti
- Lorenzo
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction
the supposed contraction of a body in the direction of its motion through the ether, postulated to explain the result of the Michelson-Morley experiment. The special theory of relativity denies that any such real change can occur in a body as a result of uniform motion but shows that an observer moving with respect to the body will determine an apparent change given by a formula similar to that of Lorentz and Fitzgerald
Origin of Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction
[ lôr′ənts-fĭts-jĕr′ld ]
The shortening of an object along its direction of motion as its speed approaches the speed of light, as measured by an observer at rest with respect to the body. Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction is an effect predicted by Einstein's theory of Special Relativity. It is named for Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz and Irish physicist George Francis FitzGerald (1851-1901), who independently proposed such a contraction. See more at relativity.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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