What is the length of the broomsticks based on Einstein's theory of relativity?

  • Thread starter Thread starter hype_chicky
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Relativity
AI Thread Summary
The discussion explores the effects of Einstein's theory of relativity on the perceived lengths of broomsticks when one is at rest and the other is in motion. When the witch flies by at 0.25c, her broomstick, originally 1.3m long, will appear shorter to the observer due to relativistic length contraction. In contrast, the observer's broomstick remains at its actual length of 1.5m since they are at rest. Despite these perceptions, the actual lengths of both broomsticks do not change; only the observer's perception is affected. This illustrates how relativity influences our understanding of length in motion.
hype_chicky
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
you are sitting at rest on your brrom stick one day when a witch flies by at 0.25c the witch says her boomstick is 1.3 m long and yours is 1.5 m long what so you dtermine the length of these two brromsticks to be?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I'm not going to give you the formula (Lorentz-Fitgerald contraction),instead i'll say to apply it logically.
So,what about your broom...??What is its length in the rest frame??(your frame)?What about the other broom?What is its length in your frame (moving frame)...??

Daniel.
 


Based on the given information, we can use the concept of relativity to determine the length of the two broomsticks. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, the length of an object appears to be shorter when moving at high speeds. In this scenario, the witch is flying at 0.25c, which is a significant fraction of the speed of light. This means that her broomstick will appear shorter to us than its actual length of 1.3m.

On the other hand, since we are sitting at rest on our broomstick, our perception of its length will be the same as its actual length of 1.5m. Therefore, we can conclude that the witch's broomstick will appear shorter than ours due to the effects of relativity.

However, it is important to note that the actual length of both broomsticks remains the same, regardless of our perception. This is because the concept of relativity only applies to the observer's perception and does not change the actual properties of the objects.

In conclusion, the length of the witch's broomstick will be shorter than 1.3m, and the length of our broomstick will remain at 1.5m. This showcases the fascinating effects of relativity in our everyday lives, even in seemingly ordinary situations like riding on a broomstick.
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...

Similar threads

Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
2K
Back
Top