You’re the communications officer on a fast spaceship that takes 50 years in ship time to reach the Andromeda Galaxy, 2 million light years from Earth in the common rest frame of Earth and Andromeda. As soon as you reach Andromeda, your captain orders you to send a radio message to Earth announcing your arrival: he claims the message will reach Earth about a century after you left. You claim it will be much later when the message arrives. Who’s right?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 33 Solutions
Essential University Physics: Volume 2 (3rd Edition)
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Essential University Physics: Volume 1 (3rd Edition)
Glencoe Physical Science 2012 Student Edition (Glencoe Science) (McGraw-Hill Education)
Introduction to Electrodynamics
Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (4th Edition)
The Cosmic Perspective
Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
- Albert Abraham Michelson became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907 for his work on improved measurements of the speed of light. If his descendants wanted to leave Earth and travel to a star 300 light-years from Earth to receive a radio transmission sent in 1907 announcing his award, how could they do so? a)Travel in a ship in which the proper time is less than 300 years. b)Travel in a ship in which the proper time is more than 300 years. c)They could not - it would require travelling faster than light, which is impossible. d)Launch a rocket which leaves Earth at 99.99% of the speed of light, then launch a second stage from the rocket, which moves away from the first stage at 99.99% of the speed of light.arrow_forwardPretend you are on a space ship traveling at 90% the speed of light and travel to a star that is 10 light years away. If, when you left Earth, you had a twin brother or sister, how much younger would you be upon your return? A: 13.5 years younger B: 6.75 years younger C: 10 years younger D: You would still be the same agearrow_forwardYou take a round trip to the star Sirius, a distance of 8.6 light years away, on board a spacecraft traveling at 99% the speed of light. When you return to Earth, 17.2 years have elapsed on Earth. But due to Einstein's theory of relativity, you will have aged by 172 years 24 years 2.4 years 17.2 years The fastest space probe currently flying (perhaps one of the Voyagers) might be able to reach a nearby star system in about 50,000 years 5,000 years 50 years 500 years Elon Musk of Space-X plans to send a human crew to the nearby Proxima Centauri star system by 2050. True Falsearrow_forward
- According to Einstein’s two postulates of special relativity: The first postulate states that: All inertial reference frames are equivalent. Explain what is meant by this first postulate.arrow_forwardSuppose you decide to travel to a star 85 light-years away at a speed that tells you the distance is only 25 light-years. How much is that speed?arrow_forwardImagine two civilizations from different planets that have started an intergalactic war. During a space battle, a missile is shot from spaceship one toward spaceship two. The missile leaves the spaceship one at 0.933c (in spaceship one's reference frame) and approaches spaceship two at 0.746c (in spaceship two's reference frame). What is the relative velocity of the two spaceships in units of c? Hint: keep in mind that the two spaceships are approaching each other. Round your answer to three decimal places. The hint he gave me is : please see section 5.6 of the text, on relativistic velocity transformation. Hint: in the reference frame of space ship 2, what is the velocity of each space ship? We are using University physics volume 3 which is evidentally available for free on openstax.org. Thank youarrow_forward
- It is year 2120 and we have figure out a propulsion system that allows spaceships travel at velocities as high as v = 0.87c. A first expedition to Alpha Centauri (the nearest planetary system) is being planned. Alpha Centauri is 4.3 ly away. Answer the following 5 questions below asking you about the details of this expedition. Question 10 Assuming a constant velocity of v=0.87c, how long would the trip to Alpha Centauri take as observed by the ground control team here on Earth? Give your answer in yearsarrow_forwardMichale is decided to buy a ticket to go to space. After meticulously planning his journey, he travels in his vessel at speed 7/10c from Earth to the nearby planet, Alfa-0 , 20 light-years away (as measured in the common rest frame of Earth and Alfa-0). He spends a year (as measured in Earth- Alfa-0 frame) on this foreign planet sharing stories of human history to aliens. Finally, he is ready to head home. His hosts, charmed by his friendliness and the stories of his wonderful home, give him their best space ship for the return voyage. In this new ship, he travels at speed 95/100 c. Let W be Michael's departure from Earth (which we can set as the origin of the reference frame), X his arrival to the Alfa-0, Y his departure from the Alfa-0, and Z his arrival back to Earth. a. Draw the spacetime diagram from the rest frame of the Earth - Alfa-0 system, indicating Michale's worldline, and the events, W, X, Y, Z. (A rough sketch will suffice - do not worry about the angles. b. Find the…arrow_forwardIn 2030, the Australian Space Agency launches a spaceship to our nearest neighbour Alpha Centauri, approximately 4 lightyears away. According to a clock on Earth how long will the rocket take to get there if it travels at v=0.999c=299482km/s (where 'c' is the speed of light equal to 299782km/s)? About 2 years. O About 6 years. O About 4 years. Zero time.arrow_forward
- The starship Enterprise is passing the planet Vondor when it is discovered that a Klingon spy has planted a bomb on board the ship. Mr. Spock has determined that the bomb will explode in one day (in the ship's frame). It can be defused only by the galaxy's leading bomb expert, who is at Star Base 23. Star Base 23 is at rest relative to Vondor, and a distance of seven light days away from Vondor. (A light day is the distance traveled by light in one day.) Captain Kirk orders the ship to head towards Star Base 23 at maximum speed. Scotty is repairing the warp drive engines, so only the impulse engines (maximum speed 0.99c) are working. The ship already is moving towards Star Base 23 at a speed of 0.99c, so it just continues with that constant velocity. Will the Enterprise make it to Star Base 23 before the bomb explodes? (a) Show why or why not as explained in the ship's frame. (b) Show why or why not the ship will make it as explained in the reference frame of Star Base 23.arrow_forwardIf astronauts could travel at v = 0.932c, we on Earth would say it takes (4.20/0.932) = 4.51 years to reach Alpha Centauri, 4.20 light-years away. The astronauts disagree. (a) How much time passes on the astronauts' clocks? years (b) What is the distance to Alpha Centauri as measured by the astronauts? light-yearsarrow_forwardAnswer both of the following questions regarding Special Relativity: a) An astronaut leaves their twin behind on Earth and departs on a journey on a spacecraft travelling at a speed of 0.840c. After 40.0 years pass on Earth, the astronaut returns to Earth to find that their age is now different from their twin. Both twins were 20 years old when the journey started. How old is the astronaut upon returning to Earth?arrow_forward
- Modern PhysicsPhysicsISBN:9781111794378Author:Raymond A. Serway, Clement J. Moses, Curt A. MoyerPublisher:Cengage LearningPrinciples of Physics: A Calculus-Based TextPhysicsISBN:9781133104261Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Stars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399944Author:Michael A. SeedsPublisher:Cengage LearningFoundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399920Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana BackmanPublisher:Cengage Learning