Length contraction, according to Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity, is the decrease in length experienced by people or objects traveling at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. It is experienced only in the direction in which the body is travelling and not transverse to this direction, which in turn is dependent on the frame of reference relative to which that motion is being measured.
It is important to note that this effect is negligible at everyday speeds, and can be ignored for all regular purposes. It is only when an object approaches speeds on the order of 30,000,000 m/s; 1/10 of the speed of light, that it becomes important. As the magnitude of the velocity approaches the speed of light, the effect becomes dominant, as we can see from the formula:
See also: