You have a twin that stays at home on the Earth while you travel in a spaceship. You leave Earth when you and your twin are both 20.0 years old. You travel from Earth in a straight line at a constant speed for 2.50 years in your frame and you return to Earth in a straight line at the same speed, so that your total travel time in your frame is 5.00 years (assume that the acceleration times are zero). When you return to Earth, you are 12.0 years younger than your twin (biological age). a. What is your twins age when you return to Earth? b. What is the speed parameter of your spaceship for this trip, ß = v/c ? c. How far from Earth (as measured in the Earth frame) did you travel before turning around (give the answer in light years ( ly ) in the Earth frame - hint the speed parameter tells you the speed in units of light vears per vear)?

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**Problem 4: Twin Paradox and Relativistic Travel**

You have a twin that stays at home on the Earth while you travel in a spaceship. You leave Earth when you and your twin are both 20.0 years old. You travel from Earth in a straight line at a constant speed for 2.50 years in your frame and you return to Earth in a straight line at the same speed, so that your total travel time in your frame is 5.00 years (assume that the acceleration times are zero). When you return to Earth, you are 12.0 years younger than your twin (biological age).

a. **What is your twin's age when you return to Earth?**

b. **What is the speed parameter of your spaceship for this trip, \(\beta = v/c\)?**

c. **How far from Earth (as measured in the Earth frame) did you travel before turning around (give the answer in light years (\(ly\)) in the Earth frame - hint: the speed parameter tells you the speed in units of light years per year)?**

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The twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity involving identical twins, one of whom makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket and returns home to find that the twin who remained on Earth has aged more. This problem requires the application of relativistic effects to determine how the ages of the twins differ when they are reunited and how far the traveling twin ventured from Earth. 

Graphical or diagrammatic interpretation: 
While the problem does not contain any explicit graphs or diagrams, consider a spacetime diagram illustrating the twins’ travel and aging process could be helpful. It would involve the traveler's world line being a straight line outbound and inbound, with the slope representing the speed. The stationary twin's world line would be vertical, reflecting the passage of time on Earth while the traveler is away. The difference in paths demonstrates the principle that time travels differently in different frames of reference.
Transcribed Image Text:**Problem 4: Twin Paradox and Relativistic Travel** You have a twin that stays at home on the Earth while you travel in a spaceship. You leave Earth when you and your twin are both 20.0 years old. You travel from Earth in a straight line at a constant speed for 2.50 years in your frame and you return to Earth in a straight line at the same speed, so that your total travel time in your frame is 5.00 years (assume that the acceleration times are zero). When you return to Earth, you are 12.0 years younger than your twin (biological age). a. **What is your twin's age when you return to Earth?** b. **What is the speed parameter of your spaceship for this trip, \(\beta = v/c\)?** c. **How far from Earth (as measured in the Earth frame) did you travel before turning around (give the answer in light years (\(ly\)) in the Earth frame - hint: the speed parameter tells you the speed in units of light years per year)?** --- The twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity involving identical twins, one of whom makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket and returns home to find that the twin who remained on Earth has aged more. This problem requires the application of relativistic effects to determine how the ages of the twins differ when they are reunited and how far the traveling twin ventured from Earth. Graphical or diagrammatic interpretation: While the problem does not contain any explicit graphs or diagrams, consider a spacetime diagram illustrating the twins’ travel and aging process could be helpful. It would involve the traveler's world line being a straight line outbound and inbound, with the slope representing the speed. The stationary twin's world line would be vertical, reflecting the passage of time on Earth while the traveler is away. The difference in paths demonstrates the principle that time travels differently in different frames of reference.
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