PHYS 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 26: Inertial Frame Of Reference, Length Contraction, Proper Length

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An inertial reference frame is one in which newton"s law of inertia holds. Inertial reference frames can move at constant velocity relative to one another; accelerating reference frames are noninertial. The special theory of relativity is based on two principles. The relativity principle states that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial reference frames. The principle of the constancy of the speed of light states that the speed of light in empty space has the same value in all inertial reference frames. One consequence of relativity theory is that two events that are simultaneous in one reference frame may not be simultaneous in another. Other effects are time dilation: moving clocks are measured to run slow; and length contraction: the length of a moving object is measured to be shorter (in its direction of motion) than when it is at rest.

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Learning Goal: To understand length contraction and timedilation.

An inertial frame of reference is one in which Newton's laws hold.Any frame of reference that moves at a constant speed relative toan inertial frame of reference is also an inertial frame. Theproper length l_0 of an object is defined to be the length of theobject as measured in the object's rest frame. If the length of theobject is measured in any other inertial frame, moving with speed urelative to the object's rest frame (in a direction parallel tol_0), the resulting length l is given by the length contractionequation

l = l_0\sqrt{1-\frac{u^2}{c^2}} ,

where c is the speed of light. Similarly, if two events occur atthe same spatial point in a particular reference frame, and anobserver at rest in this frame measures the time interval betweenthese two events, the time interval so measured is defined to bethe proper time Delta t_0. When the time interval is measured inany other inertial frame, again moving with speed u relative to thefirst frame, the resulting time interval Delta t is given by thetime dilation equation

\Delta t = \frac{\Delta t_0}{\sqrt{1-\frac{u^2}{c^2}}} .

a. Suppose that you measure the length of a spaceship, at restrelative to you, to be 400 \rm m. How long will you measure it tobe if it flies past you at a speed of u = 0.75c?
Express the length l in meters to three significant figures.

b. The spaceship from Part A has a large clock attached to itsside. This clock ran at the same rate as your watch when you werein the same reference frame. How much time Delta t will pass onyour watch as 80 \rm s passes on the clock attached to theship?
Express your answer in seconds to three significant figures.

c. Two spaceships, named A and B, are flying toward each other withrelative speed 0.800c. If the captain of ship A fires a missile,counts 10.0 \rm s on his watch, and then fires a second missile,how much time Delta t will the captain of ship B measure to havepassed between the firing of the two missiles?
Express your answer in seconds to three significant figures.

d. The captain of ship B knows that ship A uses 2-m-long missiles.She measures the length of the first missile, once it has finishedaccelerating, and finds it to be only 0.872 \rm m long. What is thespeed u of the missile, relative to ship B?
Express your answer in meters per second to three significantfigures. Use c = 3 \times 10^8 \; \rm m/s.

Please answer fully... thank you

PHYS 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 26: Inertial Frame Of Reference, Length Contraction, Proper Length

PHYS 102 Full Course Notes

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