How Long Does Light Take to Travel in Different Reference Frames?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the time it takes for a light pulse to travel from the tail to the nose of a spaceship moving at 0.8c relative to Earth. In the spaceship's reference frame, the time is calculated as 1.0 x 10^-6 seconds. For the Earth's reference frame, the user attempts to apply the Lorentz transformation to find the time as 1.40 x 10^-6 seconds but struggles with the concept of length contraction, which has not been covered in their studies. They seek assistance in manipulating Lorentz equations to solve the problem without prior knowledge of length contraction. The thread highlights the challenges faced in understanding relativistic effects on time and distance.
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Homework Statement


A spaceship has a speed of .8c relative to Earth. In its own reference fram, the length of this spaceship is 300m.
a.) consider a light emiited from the tail of this spaceship. In the reference frame of the spaceship, how long does this pulse take to reach the nose>
b.) In the reference frame of the Earth, how long does this take? Calculate this time directly from the motions of the spaceship and the light pulse; hen recalculate it by applying the Lorentz transformations to the result obtained in (a).

Homework Equations


t =\frac{t&#039; + \frac{Vx&#039;}{c^{2}}}{\sqrt{1-\frac{V^{2}}{c^{2}}}}<br />

The Attempt at a Solution


I think i have part a figured out.. All i did was divide 300 by c to get \Delta t&#039; = 1.0*10^-6s

b.) For this part, I cannot figure out how to do it without using the Lorentz transform directly like so:
t&#039; = 1.0*10^-6s...<br /> x&#039; = 300m...<br /> V = .8c<br />

t =\frac{1.0*10^-6s + \frac{.8c(300m)}{c^{2}}}{\sqrt{1-\frac{(.8c)^{2}}{c^{2}}}}<br /> = 1.40 * 10^-6s

I cannot do this though without the lorentz transform. We haven't gone over length contraction yet, so I cannot use it to determine the length of the spaceship in Earth's reference frame. If anyone could please help me get started on this I would appreciate it greatly!
 
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I've been trying to manipulate the other lorentz equations ( in specific the ones for x), but i cannot find anything that will work. Once again, If someone could help me out here I would appreciate it
 
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