Two Common Misconceptions about the Theory of Special Relativity

Abstract

Two common misconceptions about the theory of Special Relativity that are actively taught in textbooks are discussed. It is shown, first, that the Lorentz transformations are actually transformations of the coordinates of a photon, not the coordinates of a particle as taught by some authors. Secondly, a misconception concerning the relativistic Lagrangian is discussed. It is shown that the currently accepted formulation of the Lagrangian is missing an important constant of integration. By incorporating the missing constant of integration, the new Lagrangian directly supports the conclusions reached previously by the author concerning the mass-energy equivalence principle.