The Gamma Factor
Ifis close to 1 becausethe Newtonian mechanics fits observations well, with the goodness of fit improving asdecreases.
The following table shows howdiverges from 1 asincreases. Divergence becomes noticeable as increases above 0.2.
0.001 | 1.0000005 |
0.01 | 1.00005 |
0.1 | 1.005 |
0.2 | 1.021 |
0.3 | 1.48 |
0.4 | 1.091 |
0.5 | 1.155 |
0.9 | 2.29 |
0.99 | 11.26 |
0.999 | 22.37 |
Depending on the accuracy required smaller values ofmay be acceptable, but values ofabove 0.2 are generally unacceptable.
Speeds at which Newtonian mechanics is a good approximation are cal non relativistic speeds and speeds at which Newtonian mechanics is not a good approximation are called relativistic speeds.