World Science Scholars

22.5 Relativistic Bicycle Wheels

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    • Wow, those relativistic spokes are mindbender.

    • So, if there was a clock reading 12 noon at the hub of the wheel, the clock leading the motion would be before 12 noon (spoke bending up, and the clock trailing the motion would be after 12 noon (spoke also bending up). So the spokes would tend to delay and cluster at the top of the wheel and pass quickly around the bottom!!!? Interesting 🙂

    • Up to now we have been working exclusively with uniform motion. All the theory has been based on this. I don’t see how we know that any of the results we have obtained can be applied to the non-uniform motion of the rotating spokes.

      • I agree with Roelof this time. I don’t see how the wheel example can be derived from special relativity, we should need general relativity for fully explain this effect because there are accelerations involved

    • when the clocks are at the bottom half of the wheel their velocity, in the direction the wheel is travelling, will decrease while the ones at the top will increase in velocity. So time dilation will be higher for the clocks at the top so the clocks will tick slower than the ones at the bottom so that by the time the front clocks have got to the rear they will be ahead of the clocks which are now at the front

    • when the clocks are at the bottom half of the wheel their velocity, in the direction the wheel is travelling, will decrease while the ones at the top will increase in velocity. So time dilation will be higher for the clocks at the top so the clocks will tick slower than the ones at the bottom so that by the time the front clocks have got to the rear they will be ahead of the clocks which are now at the front

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    • Do Terrel rotations make Terrets syndrome? 🤒🤬

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