An enemy spacecraft moves away from the Earth at a speed of v = 0.800c (Fig. P9.19). A galactic patrol spacecraft pursues at a speed of u = 0.900c relative to the Earth. Observers on the Earth measure the patrol craft to be overtaking the enemy craft at a relative speed of 0.100c. With what speed is the patrol craft overtaking the enemy craft as measured by the patrol crafts crew? Figure. P9.19

(a) Beta decay is nuclear decay in which an electron is emitted. If the electron is given 0.750 MeV of kinetic energy, what is its velocity? (b) Comment on how the high velocity is consistent with the kinetic energy as it compares to the rest mass energy of the electron.

(a) All but the closest galaxies are receding from our own Milky Way Galaxy. If a galaxy 12.0109ly ly away is receding from us at 0. 0.900c, at what velocity relative to us must we send an exploratory probe to approach the other galaxy at 0.990c, as measured from that galaxy? (b) How long will it take the probe to reach the other galaxy as measured from the Earth? You may assume that the velocity of the other galaxy remains constant. (c) How long will it then take for a radio signal to be beamed back? (All of this is possible in principle, but not practical.)

A neutron lives 900 s when at rest relative to a observer. How fast is the neutron moving relative to a observer who measures its life span to be 2065 s?

A muon formed high in Earth's atmosphere travels toward Earth at a speed v = 0.990c for a distance of 4.60 km as measured by an observer at rest with respect to Earth. It then decays into an electron, a neutrino, and an antineutrino. (a) How long does the muon survive according to an observer at rest on Earth? (b) Compute the gamma factor associated with the muon. (c) How much time passes according to an observer traveling with the muon? (d) What distance does the muon travel according to an observer traveling with the muon? (e) A third observer traveling toward the muon at c/2 measures the lifetime of the particle. According to this observer, is the muons lifetime shorter or longer than the lifetime measured by the observer at rest with respect to Earth? Explain.

A muon has a rest mass energy of 105.7 MeV, and it decays into an electron and a massless particle. (a) If all the lost mass is converted into the electron's kinetic energy, find for the electron. (b) What is the electron's velocity?

If the rest energies of a proton and a neutron (the two constituents of nuclei) are 938.3 and 939.6 MeV, what is the difference in their mass in kilograms?

A spacecraft moves at a speed of 0.900c. If its length is L as measured by an observer on the spacecraft, what is the length measured by a ground observer?

A box is cubical with sides of proper lengths L1 = L2 = L3, as shown in Figure P26.14, when viewed in its own rest frame. If this block moves parallel to one of its edges with a speed of 0.80c past an observer, (a) what shape does it appear to have to this observer? (b) What is the length of each side as measured by the observer? Figure P26.14