Calculating Time Dilation: Apollo's Record-Breaking Speed and Earth's Clocks

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating time dilation experienced by the Apollo X module traveling at 24,791 mi/h during its return from the moon. The user attempted to compute the elapsed time in both the Apollo's frame and Earth's frame using the Lorentz transformation but arrived at an incorrect percent difference of 9.985%. The correct time dilation calculation yields a difference of 6.82x10^-8 s. Key errors identified include unit conversion and misapplication of the Lorentz factor.

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  • Basic knowledge of physics related to speed and distance calculations
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Question:

The record for the fastest speed at which anyone has ever traveled, relative to the Earth, is held by the Apollo X modue at 24,791 mi/h on their return trip from the moon.
At this speed, what is the percent difference between the clocks on the Apollo and the clocks on Earth?

OK, I think I understand how to do the problem, but I'm not getting the answer that our text gives.

I set the moving IRF as the Apollo and the stationary frame as the Earth.
I then found the time elapsed in the frame of the spaceship by using d=vt and the given velocity and the distance from the Earth to the moon.
So:

VApollo=V=24,791mi/h=11082.3m/s
d(Earth to Moon)=3.84x10^8 m

With no time dilation for the ship, the time elapsed then is:
from d=vt: tApollo=t'=3.84x10^8 m/11082.3m/s = 34649.85 s

I then found the time dilation for the time elapsed in Earth's reference frame using Lorentz tranformation:
t=t'/[tex]\sqrt{1-(V/c)^2}[/tex]

gives an elapsed time in Earth' IRF of 346449.85s

and 346449.85s/34649.85s = 9.985%

The correct answer is 6.82x10^-8 s

Could someone help me figure out where I went wrong? I went over the math a few times, so it must be my logic...

Thanks!
 
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I don't have a calculator handy, but something went wrong in that square root calc. Did you note that the spacecraft speed is in mph, so in the same units c = 186000*3600 ?

Doubtless that square root is well within 1% of 1.
 
Yeah, I actually converted the velocity to m/s I just skipped the conversion work.
 

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