Chapter Assumptions
Assume the speed of light in a vacuum is 3.00×10^8 m/s for all observers.
Chapter 35 Problems
Conceptual Problems
C.1 Would a windowless spaceship, rotating at constant speed in deep space, qualify as an inertial reference frame?Yes No
C.2 A scheme for a modern-day Fountain of Youth is introduced by a marketing company. Their idea is to launch their clients on
a round trip at relativistic speeds. Their ads proclaim: "After 10 years have elapsed on Earth, you will only have aged 5 years!"
Will the passengers enjoy a longer life according to their own biological clocks?
Yes No
C.3 A spaceship races by the Earth at a constant velocity of 0.999c. An astronaut in the ship holds a mirror up and looks at her
image in it. (a) Does she see any unusual effects? (b) Describe the effects or explain why she doesn't see any.
(a) Yes No
(b)
C.4 Consider a box on a relativistic train car, moving at 0.866c along the positive x axis as viewed from the Earth. The length of
the box along the x axis, as measured by Earth observers, will be only half of its proper length. If V is the volume of the box
measured by an observer on the train, what is volume of the box as measured by an observer on Earth?V 0.866V V/2 V/8 V/ʌ
Section Problems
Section 3 - Light can travel through a vacuum
3.1 Here is an analogy to the Michelson-Morley
experiment. Suppose a swimmer can swim at
3.0 m/s in still water (that is the "medium" of
travel for the swimmer). Consider three fixed
rocks A, B, and C in a flowing river, as shown,
such that distance AC is 12 meters and AB is
also 12 meters. The river flows at 1.0 m/s. (a)
How much time does the swimmer take for
round trip ACA, parallel to the river flow? (b)
How much time for round trip ABA,
perpendicular to the flow?
Explanation of the analogy: By rotating their apparatus, and swapping the role of B and C, Michelson and Morley hoped to
measure the speed of the earth with respect to the ether. (The analogy is to try and measure the water speed by making
round trip time measurements.) What they found was that there was no difference in the times, no matter what time of year
they did their experiments, and no matter what the orientation of the apparatus.(a) s
(b) sSection 5 - Interactive problem: Conduct Einstein's simultaneity experiment
5.1 Use the simulations in both interactive problems in this section to answer the following questions. In all cases, use the default
setting for the time interval between lightning strikes, 0 ns. (a) Does Katherine observe the lightning bolts as striking the
lightning rods simultaneously when the train is stationary? (b) Does the professor? (c) Does Katherine observe the lightning
bolts as striking the lightning rods simultaneously when the train is moving? (d) Does the professor?
(a) Yes No
(b) Yes No
(c) Yes No
(d) Yes NoSection 6 - Time dilation
6.1 A rocket ship is 45.0 m long according to measurements made in its rest frame, and moves at 0.385c with respect to the