Module 24: Lorentz Transformation: Examples - Problem 2
Consider two broomsticks whose resting lengths are each 255 feet with the only difference being that one is red and the other is blue. From your perspective on Earth, the blue broomstick is stationary and the other red broomstick is rushing by in the positive x-direction with speed .
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1. Question
From your perspective, what is the length of the red broomstick? From the perspective the observer riding the red broomstick, how long is your blue broomstick?
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2. Question
Each broomstick is equipped with a light on each of its ends. Observers that are riding the red broomstick flash both of its lights simultaneously, from their perspective. How far apart do you say the flashes took place?
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3. Question
You flash the lights on your blue broomstick simultaneously. According to those riding the red broomstick, how far apart did these flashes take place?
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4. Question
As the team of observers riding along with the red broomstick pass by you, they grab your blue broomstick in a manner that's simultaneous from their perspective. When they subsequently compare the length of the red and blue broomsticks, will they say that the blue one is longer than the red, shorter than red, or equal to red?
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5. Question
Going back to the original set up of the problem, with the blue broomstick at rest from your perspective and the red moving in the positive -direction with speed , what speed must a third frame of reference have, from your perspective, in order that observers in this new frame claim that both broomsticks have the same length?