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How fast (in terms of c) would a 5.9 m long sports car have to be going past you in order for it to appear only 5.4 m long?

Sagot :

Given:

The proper length of the sports car is: L₀ = 5.9 m

The contracted length of the sports car is: L = 5.4 m

To find:

The speed of the car.

Explanation:

The length contraction is the shortening of the length of the moving object as measured relative to the observer's frame of reference.

The expression for length contraction is given as:

[tex]L=L_0\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}[/tex]

Here, L is the contracted length, L₀ is the proper length, v is the speed of the object and c is the speed of light having a value 3 × 10⁸ m/s.

Substituting the values in the above equation, we get:

[tex]\begin{gathered} 5.4\text{ m}=5.9\text{ m}\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}\text{ } \\ \\ \frac{5.4\text{ m}}{5.9\text{ m}}=\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}} \\ \\ (\frac{5.4\text{ m}}{5.9\text{ m}})^2=1-\frac{v^{2}}{c^{2}} \\ \\ \frac{v^{2}}{c^{2}}=1-(\frac{5.4\text{ m}}{5.9\text{ m}})^2 \\ \\ v^2=c^2(1-(\frac{5.4\text{ m}}{5.9\text{ m}})^2) \\ \\ v=\sqrt{c^2(1-(\frac{5.4\text{ m}}{5.9\text{ m}})^2)} \\ \\ v=c\sqrt{1-\frac{(5.4\text{ m\rparen}^2}{(5.9\text{ m\rparen}^2}} \\ \\ v=c\times0.40 \\ \\ v=0.40c \end{gathered}[/tex]

Final answer:

The sports car should travel with a speed of 0.40c so that the length of the car appears to be 5.4 m.

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