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Hendrik Antoon Lorentz developed the Lorentz transformations. These mathematical formulas describe the increase of mass, shortening of length, and dilation of time that are characteristic of a moving body and form the basis of Einstein's special theory of relativity.
Since the time of Galileo it has been realized that there exists a class of so-called inertial frames of reference - i.e., in a state of uniform motion with respect to one another such that one cannot, by purely mechanical means, distinguish one from the other. It follows that the laws of mechanics must take the same form in every inertial frame of reference.
To the accuracy of present-day technology, the class of inertial frames may be regarded as those that are neither accelerating nor rotating with respect to the distant galaxies. To specify the motion of a body relative to a frame of reference, one gives its position x as a function of a time coordinate t(x is called the position vector and has the components x, y, and z).
Lorentz transformations can replace Galileo transformations. In the next graphic there are Lorentz transformations, which can be used for non relativistic phenomena.
