  The Ehrenfest paradox for a rotating ring is examined and a kinematic
resolution, within the framework of the special theory of relativity, is
presented. Two different ways by which a ring can be brought from rest to
rotational motion, whether by keeping the rest lengths of the blocks
constituting the ring constant or by keeping their lengths in the inertial
frame constant, are explored and their effect on the length of the material
ring in the inertial as well as the co-rotating frame is checked. It is found
that the ring tears at a point in the former case and remains intact in the
latter case, but in neither of the two cases is the motion of the ring Born
rigid during the transition from rest to rotational motion.
