Physics 144 Tutorial 5

Question 1

(a) The proper time between two events is measured by clocks at rest in a reference
frame in which the two events:

(i) occur at the same time

(ii) are separated by the distance a light signal can travel during the time interval
(iii) occur at the same point in space
(iv) satisfy none of the above

(b) A spaceship sends out a probe that travels to a nearby planet. The proper time for
the trip to the planet is measured by clocks:

(i) at the centre of the galaxy

(ii) on board the probe
(iii) on board the spaceship
(iv) on the planet
(v) none of the above

(c) Two events occur 100 m apart with an intervening time interval of 0.37µs. What is
the speed of a clock that measures the proper time between the events?

(d) What is the proper time between the two events in the previous question?

(e) A rocket travelling with constant velocity makes a 0.8 light-year trip in exactly one
year, as measured in the earth’s reference frame. How much would the passengers
on the rocket age during this trip?
Note: A light-year is the distance light travels in a year.
1 ly = (1 year) × (c) ≈ 9.46 × 1015 m.

(f) A meter stick moves in the direction of its length through a laboratory. According
to measurements taken in the laboratory, its length is 0.31 m. What is the speed of
the meter stick relative to the laboratory?

Answers: (c) 0.9c (d) 0.16 µs (e) 0.6 y (f) 0.95c

Formulas
1
γ=p ∆t = γ∆t0 l = l0 /γ
1 − u2 /c2
∆x′ = γ(∆x − u∆t) ∆y ′ = ∆y ∆z ′ = ∆z ∆t′ = γ(∆t − u∆x/c2 )

∆x = γ(∆x′ + u∆t′ ) ∆y = ∆y ′ ∆z = ∆z ′ ∆t = γ(∆t′ + u∆x′ /c2 )

vx − u vx′ + u
vx′ = vx =
1 − uvx /c2 1 + uvx′ /c2
Question 2

Answers: (a) About 660 m. (b) It can travel about 15 km.

Question 3
The relativistically correct way of transforming velocities between different reference
frames is given by the Lorentz velocity transformation:
vx − u vx′ + u
vx′ = or equivalently vx = .
1 − uvx /c2 1 + uvx′ /c2
Here vx and vx′ are the velocities of an object as measured in reference frames S and S ′
respectively. The velocity of S ′ relative to S is u and all motion is along the x-direction.
Start the following questions by drawing a clear figure showing your choice of
reference frames, with labels, as well as any relevant objects and velocities.
(a) Show that this transformation law predicts the correct result for the “moving flash-
light” example we dealt with in class.
(b) Suppose a spaceship, travelling at a speed of 0.6c away from earth, fires a missile
which moves at a speed of 0.7c with respect to the spaceship. According to the
Galilean velocity transformation, what is the speed of the missile with respect to
earth? Is this reasonable? What does the Lorentz transformation velocity predict?
(c) In the first thought experiment we had a train and a rocket moving to the right
with respect to the ground at speeds of v and 2v respectively. What is the velocity
of the train relative to the rocket?
(d) In a particle collider two protons approach each other head-on at the same speed.
The speed of one proton relative to the other is 0.89c. What is the speed v of the
protons relative to the lab? Work in terms of the ratio β = v/c.
Answers: (b) LT gives 0.92c (c) −v/(1 − 2v 2 /c2 ) (d) v = 0.61c
Question 4
Suppose that one of your friends is four years older than you. She wants to travel for two
years to space station, as measured by her, such that when she arrives there she will be
the same age as you are back on earth.

(a) What is the relevant proper time in this problem?

(b) What is the relevant non-proper time?

(c) At what speed, relative to earth, should your friend move during her trip?
√
Answer: (c) v = (2 2/3)c

Question 5
You want to take a trip to Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our solar system, which
is about 4.24 light years away. [1 light year=1 year × c] You want to travel at a speed
v relative to the Sun-Proxima Centauri frame such that you will only be two years older
when you arrive at the star.

(a) Draw a simple figure showing the Sun-Proxima Centauri frame, and the frame of
your spaceship. Indicate any relevant distances.

(b) What are the two relevant events in this problem? Indicate these on your figure.

(c) Let ∆t and ∆t0 denote the time intervals between the relevant events in the two
frames. Write down what you know about these two time intervals, but do not solve
any equations yet.

(d) Set up and solve an equation for the speed v at which you would need to travel.
It is easiest to work in terms of the ratio β = v/c. Express distances and times in
light years and years respectively.

Answers: (d) v = 0.90c

Question 6

Answers: (a) 17.371007 m and (b) 3.300181◦ Be careful with rounding errors here!
Question 7
The Pole and Barn Paradox:

A runner holding a pole with proper length ℓ0 = 12.5 m approaches a barn with length
10 m at a speed of u = (3/5)c. The relevant Lorentz factor is γ = 5/4. The front and
back doors of the barn are open. In the barn/ground frame the pole is Lorentz contracted
to a length of 12.5/γ = 10 m and will therefore fit into the barn perfectly. However, in
the runner’s frame the length of the pole is ℓ0 = 12.5 m while the barn is contracted to a
length of 10/γ = 8 m, and so there is no way that the pole will fit inside! What’s going
on here? Will the pole fit inside the barn or not?

To investigate this apparent paradox it is useful to think in terms of four events:

ˆ Event A: The front of the pole enters the barn.
(ct, x) (ct′ , x′ )
ˆ Event B: The back of the pole enters the barn. A (0, 0) (0, 0)
B
ˆ Event C: The front of the pole exits the barn.
C
ˆ Event D: The back of the pole exits the barn. D

Questions:
(a) Make a simple drawing of the four events as seen from the barn frame.
(b) We can choose the barn frame such that event A takes place at x = 0 and ct = 0.
Now calculate the spacetime coordinates (ct, x) for the other three events and add
your results to the table. (It is usually easier to work with ct rather than t itself.)
(c) Make a simple drawing of the four events as you would expect them to appear in
the runner’s frame. Do not perform any calculations.
(d) Apply the Lorentz transformation to your results in (b) to obtain the spacetime
coordinates (ct′ , x′ ) of the four events in the runner’s frame and add these to the
table. Do the order and location of the events agree with your figures in (c)?
(e) Based on your results above, complete the following as best you can:
In the barn frame the pole fits inside the barn because events and
occur . However, in the runner’s frame occurs ,
and so the pole never fits inside the barn, just as expected. There is no real paradox
here; the apparent paradox is the result of incorrectly assuming that .
Further Remarks: The apparent paradox is a result of incorrectly regarding the pole
being inside the barn as being an event. It is not. It is a statement about the order,
or simultaneity, of events B and C in a particular frame. These events do occur in all
reference frames, but not necessarily simultaneously.
Question 8
We have seen that events occurring simultaneously in one reference frame need not occur
simultaneously in another. In fact, even the order in which events occur might be different
in different frames. However, there are still logical restrictions on this, since causality
must be preserved in all frames, i.e. cause must always precede effect. For example,
there is no reference frame in which the event of your first birthday occurs before the
event of your birth, or in which your friend receives a text message from you before you
send it. In fact, if two events are potentially causally related, meaning that one of the
events caused or in some way influenced the other, then the order in which these events
occur must be the same in all reference frames. However, if it is impossible for two events
to be causally related then the order in which they occur could be different in different
frames, since this would not violate causality. Let us explore these ideas further.

(a) Consider the following two events: (A) You kick a ball. (B) A window shatters.
Suppose the coordinates of these events in some frame are (ctA , xA ) = (0, 0) and
(ctB , xB ) = (8 m, 10 m). Could you be held responsible for breaking the window?
Explain your answer.

(b) Consider the following two events: (A) You plant an apple tree. (B) You eat
an apple. Suppose the coordinates of these events in some frame are (ctA , xA ) =
(1 ly, −1 m) and (ctB , xB ) = (4 ly, 5 m). Is it possible that you are enjoying the
fruits of your labour? Explain your answer.

Let ∆t = tB − tA and ∆x = xB − xA be the space and time intervals between two events.
If |c∆t| < |∆x| then we say that the separation between the events is spacelike. In
particular, this implies that no signal of any sort could have travelled from event A to
event B. Therefore there is no way that these two events can be causally related. This is
the case in question (a) above. If |c∆t| > |∆x| then we say that the separation between
the events is timelike. It is possible that some kind of signal could have travelled between
the two events, and therefore the events are potentially causally related. This is the case
in question (b) above.

(c) For causality to be preserved the order in which events with a timelike separation
occur must therefore be the same in all reference frames. (So there is no frame in
which you eat the apple before planting the tree.) However, the order of events with
a spacelike separation need not be the same in all frames. (So there are frames in
which the window breaks before you kick the ball.) Prove this general result using
the Lorentz transform
∆t′ = γ(∆t − u∆x/c2 ).

(d) When is a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors fair?

A convenient way of representing all this information is through a spacetime diagram

showing the future and past light-cones of an event at the origin, where t = 0 and x = 0.
The past and future lightcones consist of all events for which the separation from the
origin is timelike. Outside the light-cones are the events for which the separation from
the origin is spacelike.
 Time (ct)

Future light-cone
of events that you
Future events you can influence. Future events you
cannot influence cannot influence

Here & Now

Space (x)
Past events that cannot Past events that cannot
influence you (yet). influence you (yet).
Past light-cone
of events that can
influence you.

Question 9

A planet is home to the peaceful species P144. However, the moon of the planet houses a
base of the often aggressive Reptulians. You are on a spaceship moving along a straight-
line course, first past the planet and then past the moon. Suddenly you detect a high-
energy microwave burst from the moon base and then 1.10s later an explosion on the
planet. You are moving at a speed of 0.98c and the moon is 4 × 108 m from the planet,
as measured in your reference frame.

(a) Would you consider this to be an attack on the planet by the moon base?

(b) Calculate the time interval between the burst and the explosion in the planet’s
reference frame using the Lorentz transformation. Does the result corroborate your
answer in (a)?

Answers: (a) No! (b) ∆t′ = −1.04 s.