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#1 2008-01-31 05:23:33

G5438f
New Member
Registered: 2008-01-31
Posts: 1

Length contraction

I am having a problem related to length contraction.  Picture a 1 meter stick in the S' frame moving at .8c, at an angle of 60 degrees relative to its velocity of .8c in the S' frame what is its length at rest?

I get 1m*cos(60 degrees) =.5 for one leg and the other as 1m*sin(60)= sqrt{3}/2 and sqrt{(.5^2)+(sqrt{3}/2}2} =1 ; where the answer is 91.7 cm.  What am I doing wrong I am going nuts.

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#2 2008-02-01 08:53:53

Martin
Moderator
From: Earth
Registered: 2004-10-04
Posts: 369

Re: Length contraction

All you did was calculate the length of the hypotenuse of a 30-60-90 triangle—which you knew from the outset.

To do this problem, you need to realize that the 1-meter stick has 2 velocity components (x and y), and is Lorentz-contracted only in the x direction.


The truth is out there.

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#3 2008-04-06 01:10:08

Nicholas
Resident Crackpot
Registered: 2007-09-17
Posts: 424

Re: Length contraction

Flat atoms.

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