Two MC Special Relativity Questions

[shmijda]

Homework Statement

1.
You observe two events to occur simultaneously. A friend is moving with respect to you. The friend will see

:
The event the friend is moving towards occurs first, in their perspective

The order of the events is random and cannot be predicted

The events occur simultaneously, but at a different time than according to your clock

The events occur simultaneously according to all observers

2.
How well tested is Special Relativity?:
It is complete speculation

It has recently failed some very significant tests

It has been extremely accurately and rigorously tested for over 100 years

Some aspects have been rather well tested

Homework Equations

None

The Attempt at a Solution

For 1, I think the answer is "The event the friend is moving towards occurs first, in their perspective"
For 2, I think the answer is "Some aspects have been rather well tested"

 

[phinds]

For 1, I think the answer is "The event the friend is moving towards occurs first, in their perspective"

So, suppose they are moving well below c and the event they are moving away from is 10 feet behind them and the one they are moving towards is 10 miles ahead of them [the events are about 5 miles away from you, in different directions]. Do you think that answer holds?

For 2, I think the answer is "Some aspects have been rather well tested"

PHENOMENALLY well tested would be more accurate.

 

[shmijda]

Oh ok , so for 1 , I am thinking "The events occur simultaneously, but at a different time than according to your clock" since the friend is moving

 

[shmijda]

Oh also, for 2, then the answer is more accurately , "It has been extremely accurately and rigorously tested for over 100 years"?

 

[phinds]

Oh ok , so for 1 , I am thinking "The events occur simultaneously, but at a different time than according to your clock" since the friend is moving

So, you are saying that your friend will see an event one mile behind him and one 10 miles in front of him as simultaneous and you will see the same events, each 5 miles from you, also as simultaneous but at a different time?

I am getting the impression that you have not yet figured out that in science in general the answers to such questions often need to be explored by thinking about various scenarios that are permitted by the problem statement.

 

[shmijda]

If the friend is moving under c ? It seems like the only possible answer since the order of events in not random as the problem states they are simultaneous. Or are you saying that the events are random?

 

[phinds]

If the friend is moving under c ? It seems like the only possible answer since the order of events in not random as the problem states they are simultaneous. Or are you saying that the events are random?

I am saying that I do not think any of the answers are correct. The "random" answer sort of gets close to it but is not at all correct as stated. It should be clear that none of the other answers can possibly be correct, except for a particular set of exact conditions that allows "simultaneous" to be correct, but that would not be acceptable as a general answer.

 

[shmijda]

I am saying that I do not think any of the answers are correct. The "random" answer sort of gets close to it but is not at all correct as stated. It should be clear that none of the other answers can possibly be correct, except for a particular set of exact conditions that allows "simultaneous" to be correct, but that would not be acceptable as a general answer.

Ahh I see I agree, I guess I'll just choose an answer thank you!