
For many years I taught special relativity at the doctoral school of ELTE (Budapest) to secondary-school teachers. I found that the main difficulty in achieving a precise understanding of the theory is the reliable distinction between coordinate time and proper time. Over the years, I therefore developed an introductory line of reasoning for the theory in which the emphasis is not placed on the Lorentz transformation, but rather on the distinction between the two kinds of time and, of course, the constancy of light velocity. This approach begins with distinguishing the two kinds of time and, through establishing their relationship, the law of velocity addition, and Lorentz contraction, arrives in very simple steps at the Lorentz transformation. This work is intended as an accessible, didactic introduction rather than a research monograph.Both A4 and A5 formats are included. Hungarian version is available on Zenodo with DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18449415For correspondence regarding this work, please contact: relativity [at] hrasko.com
paradox, special relativity, Lorentz transformation, coordinate time, physics education, proper time, spacetime, time
paradox, special relativity, Lorentz transformation, coordinate time, physics education, proper time, spacetime, time
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