Chapter 37, Problem 94P

Figure 37-37 shows three situations in which a starship passes Earth (the dot) and then makes a round trip that brings it back past Earth, each at the given Lorentz factor. As measured in the rest frame of Earth, the round-trip distances are as follows: trip 1, 2D; trip 2, 4D; trip 3, 6D. Neglecting any time needed for accelerations and in terms of D and c, find the travel times of (a) trip 1, (b) trip 2, and (c) trip 3 as measured from the rest frame of Earth. Next, find the travel times of (d) trip 1, (e) trip 2, and (f) trip 3 as measured from the rest frame of the starship. (Hint: For a large Lorentz factor, the relative speed is almost c.)

Figure 37-37 Problem 94.