Relativity Question Regarding an Airliner (Light & ball movement)

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a scenario involving an airliner traveling at a constant speed of 300 m/s, where the original poster considers the motion of a ball thrown towards the back of the plane and a beam of light shone in the same direction. The problem touches on concepts from relativity, particularly the behavior of objects in different frames of reference and the implications of time dilation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to calculate the velocities of the ball and light from the Earth's frame of reference, leading to confusion regarding the application of classical equations versus relativistic transformations. Some participants question the appropriateness of using Lorentz transformations for the ball's motion and discuss the constancy of the speed of light.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the concepts, with some expressing confusion about Lorentz transformations and their relevance to the problem. There is acknowledgment of the small effect of time dilation, but no consensus on the necessity of using relativistic equations versus classical mechanics. The discussion is ongoing, with various interpretations being explored.

Contextual Notes

Some participants note that Lorentz transformations were not covered in their lessons, leading to uncertainty about their application. The original poster and others express doubt about the significance of time dilation at the given speeds.

HarleyM
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Homework Statement



Imagine that you are flying on an airliner on a long flight to Europe at a constant speed of 300 m/s

a) you throw a ball towards the back of the plane at 20 m/s. You then shine a beam of light towards the back of the plane. How will these two things-- the ball and light-- appear to move from the Earth's frame of reference

b) would you expect your watch to be affected by time dilation?


Homework Equations



Δtm = Δts/√(1-v2/c2)

The Attempt at a Solution



a) The ball moves at 300-20 = 280 m/s forward
The light moves at c-v
3x108-300=2.999997x108 Confused here, this is an inertial frame of reference so is the speed of light a constant 3x108 m/s or is 2.999997x108 correct?

b) The plane does not move fast enough for time dilation to be noticed but it is occurring. The watch would not be able to detect the significantly small change in time dilation
 
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HarleyM said:
a) The ball moves at 300-20 = 280 m/s forward
The light moves at c-v
3x108-300=2.999997x108 Confused here, this is an inertial frame of reference so is the speed of light a constant 3x108 m/s or is 2.999997x108 correct?

Recall second postulate of STR
and for ball, you just applied classical eqn,, shouldn't you be using Lorentz transformations ?
 
HarleyM said:
b) The plane does not move fast enough for time dilation to be noticed but it is occurring. The watch would not be able to detect the significantly small change in time dilation

Well i believe that's true !
 
cupid.callin said:
Recall second postulate of STR
and for ball, you just applied classical eqn,, shouldn't you be using Lorentz transformations ?

second postulate states the constancy of the speed of light with regards to all inertial reference frames, therefore it moves at 3x10^8m/s I believe, and common sense fails me here.

I have no honest idea what Lorentz transformations are, it was not taught in this lesson as far as I know..
 
HarleyM said:
I have no honest idea what Lorentz transformations are, it was not taught in this lesson as far as I know..

Using Lorentz transformation, you can transform velocity in any1 inertial frame from any other inertial frame which is moving at some velocity wrt previous frame ...
Here
 
That just made me really confused...

we weren't taught lorentz transformations in the lesson so idk if I should use them.. they seem straightforward and when I use u=v+u'/1+(vu'/c^2) I get 320 instead of 280..

as for the light part, am I correct I mean I just learned inertial frames and non-inertial frames today so I am very unsure of myself..
 
HarleyM said:
That just made me really confused...

we weren't taught lorentz transformations in the lesson so idk if I should use them.. they seem straightforward and when I use u=v+u'/1+(vu'/c^2) I get 320 instead of 280..

as for the light part, am I correct I mean I just learned inertial frames and non-inertial frames today so I am very unsure of myself..

In this case, you will get same answer as in case of classical mechanics because the factor \Large{\frac{vu'}{c^2}} comes out to be ≈ -10-14 ... So if you write your answer upto 14 terms after decimal, you will see a change (pretty useless thing, i know!)

But will yes, if its no taught and the answer will have such a small difference then of course, you should use classical form,

And your first part is right that it will be c !
 

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