Help with relativity [relativistic rocket]

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    Relativity Rocket
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the application of relativity in the context of a fictional scenario involving a spaceship traveling to a star 10 light years away. Participants explore the necessary integrals to determine proper time and the time experienced on Earth during the journey, focusing on the effects of acceleration and relativistic travel.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • Billdrix expresses uncertainty about the phrasing of the problem and seeks help with the integrals related to a spaceship accelerating at 0.1 g for half the trip to a star.
  • Another participant suggests a resource that may provide the needed information.
  • Billdrix acknowledges the resource but realizes it only presents results rather than the integrals themselves.
  • A later reply encourages searching for previous discussions on the topic to find more detailed information about the integrals involved.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the specific integrals needed, and the discussion remains unresolved regarding the exact mathematical approach to the problem.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the discussion, including missing assumptions about the journey and the specific mathematical steps required to derive the integrals.

billdrix
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I'm over my head and need help for a story I am writing. I would like the science to be correct. I'm not sure I'm even phrasing the problem correctly, but here goes.

Suppose a spaceship will travel to a star that appears 10 light years from earth. The spaceship will accelerate at 0.1 g (as experienced by the ship) for half the trip then turn around and accelerate the opposite rest of the time. What would be the integrals for determining the proper time and the time as it appears to people on earth?

Thanks

Billdrix
 
Physics news on Phys.org
This page on the http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SR/rocket.html is just what you need. :biggrin:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you very much. It appears that I'll have to cheat. :(
 
I just realized that page just shows the results of doing the integral, not the integral itself. I'm sure it's been discussed here before. Try the following Google search:

"relativistic rocket" integral site:physicsforums.com

and poke around in the old threads that this turns up. To broaden the search outside of PF, leave off the site:physicsforums.com bit.
 

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