i understand the theory of time dilation and somewhat of lengthcontraction, but

Question

i understand the theory of time dilation and somewhat of lengthcontraction, but i don't understand one thing .. our professorended the lecture today with a problem: how can two tape measures(theoretically), one attached to a space ship flying away fromearth at a very high speed and read by people on earth, and theother attached to earth and read by people on the ship, readdifferent readings? i understand that the perceived lengthdue to each reader's frame of reference can differ but how can itchange something that is physically being measured? i hopethat isn't confusing .. please help!!

Explanation / Answer

If I understand the problem correctly, wich I'm not sure I do, thenthe solution is that the relative speed of the earth observed bythe spaceship is diffrent from the relative speed of the spaceshipas observed by earth. That is; the spaceship is going at such aspeed that it observes the world diffrently than the slow-movingearthlings, as the theory of relativy says. The physical realtyisn't changing as such, it's merley being observed diffrently. Correct me if I'm wrong, Cramster community.

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