Lorentz Transform Blues

sponsoredwalk

Hi, I don't want to seem like a quack or anything but here goes.

I'm just wondering what the more knowledgable physicists on this board think about the Lorentz Transform derivation that utilizes the pythagorean theorem to get it's resuts.

You see, I found a webpage where a guy derived his own Lorentz transform which is pretty much part-in-parcel the standard right triangle derivation in intro phys books. One of the people who replied said that him arriving at the transform was lucky but incorrect due to "Frame-Jumping".

I wonder are people being told to learn this transform derivation because it works even though it's not technically correct.

If you have the time I encourage you to read the whole 3 pages & see if this guy is right.

As for the correct transform that comes out Minkowski diagrams etc... I'm not finished my work to get into a proper special relativity book but I have Wheeler's book waiting for me. I'd just like to know about this thing though as it's been bugging me.


Here's the article

http://www.physforum.com/index.php?showtopic=21780

Here's my Physicsforums post that has some replies to this question. I was told to just wait until I am doing the more advanced stuff but this thing is still bugging me. Why teach something incorrect, (assuming it is) in college level texts?

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=368598

ZorbaTehZ

The derivation is correct, just that guy in that thread made a hash of it, instead of a right-triangle, he should have used an isosceles because the return of the lightray from the opposite plate wont be horizontal relative to the frame at rest. You can still use Pythagoras though to calculate the answer...