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View Full Version : Time Dilation - Angular Momentum - Mass


kmarinas86
Jan28-07, 02:42 AM
Angular momentum must be conserved. Does that mean that if a particle travels at relative velocity to an observer that the decrease in apparent spin rate will be offset by the increase in mass causing the angular momentum to be constant?

jtbell
Jan28-07, 04:02 AM
Angular momentum must be conserved. Does that mean that if a particle travels at relative velocity to an observer that the decrease in apparent spin rate will be offset by the increase in mass causing the angular momentum to be constant?

I think you're confusing the words "conserved" and "invariant". When a quantity is conserved, it maintains the same value at different times in the same reference frame. When a quantity is invariant, it has the same value when measured from different reference frames. Angular momentum is conserved but I don't think it's necessarily invariant. Certainly linear momentum is not invariant, although it is conserved.