When someone says the word space
our minds tend to jump to images of outer
space, planets, and stars; but that is not
the type of space we are talking about here
(though outer space is included within it).
The type of space that we are talking about
here is simply the where of something, or in
other terms how we describe where something
is relative to another thing. In our normal
everyday life space is easy to understand
you can measure the distance between to
places and tell it to someone and they will
agree with you when they measure it, at
speeds near the speed of light things aren't
quite as easy.
When traveling near the speed of light space
stops being the same for everyone, and it
starts to matter what frame of reference
(who's point of view) you are in. When you
are traveling at such speeds, the space in
front of you contracts causing you to
measure the distance to your destination as
less than the person back at your starting
point measures it as. We can measure the
change resulting from this phenomena using
the equation on the left. (L= distance after
contraction, Lo=the distance at rest which
is often referred to as the proper length, v=velocity,
and c= the speed of light)
