- #1
Lucille
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Homework Statement
Sally and Sheldon have identical meter sticks. Sally is on earth, and sheldon is in a spacecraft that moves at 0.5c relative to sally. Sheldon leaves the spaceship at 0.1c relative to the spacecraft in a launch pad, moving away from sally. according to sally, what is the length of sheldon's meter stick?
Homework Equations
x=gamma*(x-vt)
The Attempt at a Solution
if in sheldon's frame:
Lo = 1m = length of meter stick
In sally's frame:
L=gamma*(x'-vt'-x-vt)
but t1=t2
so L=Lo/gamma
L= 0.8 m
So Sally sees sheldon's meter stick as 0.8 m long.