- #1
freshman2013
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I'm coming across a contradiction that I can't resolve. Two points on the ground are separated by 30km. If you're in a moving frame at velocity +v relative to the ground and you view those two points on the ground, would those two points be greater or less than 30km apart? At first, I thought it would be less, since the proper length is 30km and the ground is moving at a velocity -v relative to you. So the separation would be Lo/lorentzfactor and thus be contracted. But when I saw the solutions and they used the lorentz transformations, the solutions yielded a result greater than 30km. The solutions make actually sense, but I couldn't resolve my original method and the method used in the solutions. Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my original approach? It's problem 2a on the link below. Thanks!
https://tbp.berkeley.edu/exams/459/download/ Problem 2a
https://tbp.berkeley.edu/exams/536/download/ the solutions
https://tbp.berkeley.edu/exams/459/download/ Problem 2a
https://tbp.berkeley.edu/exams/536/download/ the solutions