Aspects of Force and Acceleration in Special Relativity

Abstract

In relativistic dynamics, the direction of acceleration is not generally parallel to the direction of force. Both the magnitude and direction of an object’s three-acceleration can alter even when the magnitude of the applied three-force is constant. Graphs of the variation in acceleration and the angles between an object’s velocity, acceleration, and the applied force vectors are presented in order to illustrate the behavior at close to the speed of light.