Lorentz Factor
Also known as gamma factor · relativistic factor
Enter your known values, leave one input blank, and solves for the missing one. Try different units for next level excitement!
Learning zone
Everything strange about special relativity funnels through this one factor: moving clocks run slow by γ, moving rulers shrink by γ, moving masses carry γ times the momentum. It hugs 1 stubbornly — at half the speed of light γ is only 1.155 — then explodes near β = 1: γ = 7 at 99% of c, γ ≈ 7000 for protons in the LHC. That stubbornness near ordinary speeds is why nobody noticed relativity for three centuries of careful mechanics.
Lorentz Factor
Where
- = Lorentz factor
- = Speed ratio v/c
Missing one of these? Work it out first, then come back
- Lorentz factor — Factor of Safety, Bolt Preload from Torque (T = KDF)
- Speed ratio v/c — Time Dilation, Length Contraction