A spaceship of proper length Lp = 300 m moves past a transmitting station at a s

Question

A spaceship of proper length Lp = 300 m moves past a transmitting station at a speed of 0.71c. (The transmitting station broadcasts signals at the speed of light) A clock is attached to the nose of the spaceship and a second clock is attached to the transmitting station. The instant that the nose of the spaceship passes the transmitter, clocks at the transmitter and in the nose of the spaceship are set to zero. The instant that the tail of the ship passes the transmitter a signal is sent and subsequently detected by the receiver in the nose of the ship.

Given: according to the clock attached to the transmitter, the signal is received by the spaceship at 3.42173

Explanation / Answer

time elapsed when spaceship tail passes through transmitter can be given by:300m/0.71c

=300/0.71*3*108

=1.4s

now signal is transmitted after time 1.4 s thus total time required by signal to reach nose of spaceship=(3.42173-1.4)s=2.02173s

thus total distance travelled by signal of speed c in time 2.02172s=(3*108m/s)*(2.02173s)

=606.52m

thus according to an observer that works at the transmitting station, the nose of the spaceship when the signal is received at it is at a distance of 606.52m

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse A
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.