George Gamow imagined a world in which the speed of light is only c = 10 mph (4.5 m/s), sothat relativistic effects become evident in everyday life. (In Mr Tompkins in Wonderland.)a) Calculate the factor gamma for a speed of 9.95 mph. A cyclist approaches you at thisspeed. Describe and/or sketch what you would see.b) The cyclist realises she is running late, going to the station that you can see is almost amile away down the straight road. What distance to the station does she see? She standson the pedals to speed up, to 9.9875 mph. Calculate the new value of gamma. What effectdoes this have, on the distances that you see and that she sees?c) Before she accelerated, you estimated that she would take about six minutes to arrive atthe station. What would she have estimated? What effect does her acceleration have onthese two times?[
George Gamow imagined a world in which the
that relativistic effects become evident in everyday life. (In Mr Tompkins in Wonderland.)
a) Calculate the factor gamma for a speed of 9.95 mph. A cyclist approaches you at this
speed. Describe and/or sketch what you would see.
b) The cyclist realises she is running late, going to the station that you can see is almost a
mile away down the straight road. What distance to the station does she see? She stands
on the pedals to speed up, to 9.9875 mph. Calculate the new value of gamma. What effect
does this have, on the distances that you see and that she sees?
c) Before she accelerated, you estimated that she would take about six minutes to arrive at
the station. What would she have estimated? What effect does her acceleration have on
these two times?
[
AI-generated content may present inaccurate or offensive content that does not represent bartleby’s views.
Unlock instant AI solutions
Tap the button
to generate a solution
