What is Length contraction: Definition and 475 Discussions

Length contraction is the phenomenon that a moving object's length is measured to be shorter than its proper length, which is the length as measured in the object's own rest frame. It is also known as Lorentz contraction or Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction (after Hendrik Lorentz and George Francis FitzGerald) and is usually only noticeable at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. Length contraction is only in the direction in which the body is travelling. For standard objects, this effect is negligible at everyday speeds, and can be ignored for all regular purposes, only becoming significant as the object approaches the speed of light relative to the observer.

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  1. A

    I How time dilation is a permanent change and length contraction not?

    Comparing high precision atomic clocks, one flying in a airplane and one on the ground had demonstrated permanent time dilation presumably due to special relativity (speed) and/or general relativity (gravity) . While similar experiment with a ruler would demonstrate length contraction only...
  2. D

    Help with Length contraction of ruler at 60degree angle to observer

  3. M

    I Length Contraction & FTL Speeds: Are Lower Grades Faster?

    I’m not a physicist but let’s say hypothetically ;we have the Millennium Falcon. It’s FTL hyperdrive can go Class 0.5 past lightspeed. Then we have an X-wing which has a Class 1 past lightspeed drive. This is all from the lore. MF is 0.5 and X Wing is 1 but MF is faster. Anyway even though the...
  4. DaveC426913

    B Length contraction of a pair of electrons

    I've managed to stump myself in attempting to answer a member on another forum. He is attempting to demonstrate length contraction using two electrons a known distance apart and moving at a known velocity.My thought experiment is based on his proposal; that's why I've chosen the components I...
  5. Foppe Hoekstra

    I Accelerated Triangle and Length Contraction

    Two astronauts, Neil and Michael, visit a solid not revolving planet. They mount a jet engine on this planet to get it turning around its axis. Before starting the engine they put three dots on the surface with the help of an isosceles triangle, which measures 1 by 1 meter. Two dots are placed...
  6. learn.steadfast

    I Length contraction viewed with Heaviside equations

    Richard Feynmann, in His lectures on Physics, Vol I, chapter 28. Gives an expression for calculating the E and B field of a moving point charge based on retarded radius; eg: Knowledge of where the charge was at the time when the field was being formed. The Equation was originally derived by...
  7. Foppe Hoekstra

    I Length Contraction: Measuring a Difference of 55 Nanometers

    If the table (with the mirrors, beamsplitter, etc.) is rotated 90 degrees, one arm will get shorter (due to lengthcontraction) because its longitudinal speed goes from zero to 30 km/s (our speed around the sun) and the other arm will get longer as its speed goes from 30 km/s to zero. So with a...
  8. pixel

    I Implication of length contraction

    I had posted a similar question on another forum but didn't get much of a discussion. I'm interested to know what people here think. So consider a spaceship midway between stars A and B and initially at rest in the reference frame of the stars. The ship then accelerates away from A to some...
  9. M

    Length Contraction & Time Dilation

    Homework Statement A spaceship of proper length L is moving with respect to the ground with speed v. As measured on the ground, how much time does a light signal need to get from the front to the end of the spaceship. Homework Equations L'=L/γ t'=tγ The Attempt at a Solution The right answer...
  10. S

    B Take on Length Contraction at relativistic speeds

    Hello everyone and apologize if my questions seem a bit off, please have patience with me. I want to have the following, rather simple, thought experiment. Let's say that we have a moving object O with the proper length L, when at rest. Let's say that object O starts moving at 0.9c (90% the...
  11. zox00

    I Deriving Lorentz from time dilation and length contraction

    Is it possible to derive the Lorentz transformation from time dilation and length contraction? If so, how should I start? I know how to derive it while considering 4 scenarios finding values of A, B,D,E in x'=Ax+Bt t'=Dx+Et and the transformation is: x'=(x-vt)/sqrt(1-v^2/c^2)...
  12. R

    I Relativity and Electromagnetism

    Hello, There is a common setup used when describing the intimate relationship between electricity and magnetism. I have a question about the setup. Setup: There is some long current-carrying wire. Outside of that wire, there is some test charge. In the first situation, the test charge is...
  13. J

    Should I use time dilation or length contraction?

    1. Homework Statement [/B] This is a problem that was in my Physics HW. Two powerless rockets are on a collision course. The rockets are moving with speeds of 0.800c and 0.600c and are initially ## 2.52 × 10^{12} ## m apart as measured by Liz, an Earth observer, as shown in Figure P1.59. Both...
  14. P

    SR - Time dilation, space-time diagram, and radio signals

    Homework Statement P.S.: I'm not sure if it is allowed to ask multi-part questions. Two equally old sisters Alice and Barbara leave Earth simultaneously in opposite directions. The following velocities and distances have been measured in the Earth system. Alice travels with a speed of ##v_A =...
  15. Amaterasu21

    I SR Light Wavelength & Direction: Questions Explained

    Hi all, I have two questions about light in Special Relativity. (I'm going to pad these questions out with a few statements about my understanding of length contraction and time dilation, so you can see how I currently think about it and clear up any misconceptions if I've got the basic idea...
  16. N

    I Length Expansion Opposite Direction: SR Simultaneity Explained

    SR says that there is length contraction in the direction of movement. This works nicely for light going from the back of the ship to the front. From my perspective, the ship is moving away but that is offset by the ship's contraction. But things get tricky for light going from the front of the...
  17. N

    I Question about length contraction

    I have seen in SR that regular time and regular distance is equal to slower time and less distance because of length contraction. Say a person on Earth sees a ship moving towards it. This reference frame has regular time and regular length and it views the ship's reference frame as having slower...
  18. N

    I Length Contraction of Protons in the LHC

    What affect does the phenomenon of "length contraction" have on the shape (e.g. spherical, rugby ball, barbell, donut) of protons accelerated to 0.999999991 c in the LHC?
  19. S

    I Extreme Length Contraction: Classical to Quantum?

    Hello! If we have a 1m stick (as measured in its stationary reference frame, call it S) and we (S') move with a high enough velocity, we can make the length of the stick in our frame as small as we want. So for high enough velocities, the stick will appear so small in our frame, S', that it will...
  20. F

    I Reconciling two observers in two frames

    I am not a physicist—not even close—just a guy who, for some crazy reason, decided to try to understand some of the basics of relativity. I’d like to understand them well enough to be able to explain them (correctly) to another lay person. I’m trying to see how much I could explain without...
  21. David Lewis

    B Bell's Spaceship Paradox & Length Contraction

    You and two identical spaceships are all at rest with respect to each other. You note that the two engines start up at the same time, and the thrust curve and acceleration profile of both spaceships are identical. As the ships pick up speed, would you measure the ships to be shorter than their...
  22. platosuniverse

    B Does the size of the Universe change with motion?

    This is a question I was looking at based on Relativity and John Wheeler's one-electron universe theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe My question is this. The faster you move towards the speed of light, wouldn't everything in the universe contract to a single particle...
  23. yrjosmiel

    B Effects of a moving mirror on a ray of light

    Let's say I have an apparatus that's set up like this Let's also say that the mirror is infinitely long. If the mirror starts moving at subluminal speeds in the x axis, what would happen to the path of the ray of light? Would the dot made by the ray of light on the wall go up?
  24. K

    B Distance Expansion When Moving Away from an Object?

    In a physics video on YouTube it's told that moving away from an object causes eextension of the length. (Link: from 6:00, but video is Norwegian) Imagine: From planet B to planet C, the distance is 20 light years. And from planet A to planet B the distance is 20 light years. We are on...
  25. F

    B Length contraction applet - have they got it wrong?

    Hi, I was browsing the internet for interactive simulations illustrating special relativity concepts. It seems to me that those in this http://kcvs.ca/concrete/visualizations/special-relativity are mostly nice and clear, although not very "chrome-friendly" (I have to use firefox to play their...
  26. Philip Dhingra

    I Understanding Length Contraction: What is Limit of Vanishing Transport Velocity?

    I'm trying to understand length contraction from wikipedia, and they mention clock synchronization: The observer installs a row of clocks that either are synchronized a) by exchanging light signals according to the Poincaré-Einstein synchronization, or b) by "slow clock transport", that is, one...
  27. A

    B How can I derive the law of composition of velocities?

    How can I derive mathematically law of composition of velocities from time dilation and length contraction But please use only algebra .Don't use four vectors and space time diagrams.
  28. Destroxia

    Special Relativity - Length Contraction

    1. Homework Statement Why does the non-relative simultaneous frame have an additional term of ##v \Delta t## along with the contracted length ## L ## for ## \Delta x ##? 2. Homework Equations ## L + v \Delta t = \Delta x ## ---- (1) ## \Delta x = \gamma \Delta x' = \gamma L_{\star} ## ----...
  29. B

    Angled Length Contraction (Relativity)

    Homework Statement Find the length of a meter stick if in the laboratory frame it is angled at 60 degrees relative to the direction of motion, and it is traveling at .8 c. I have calculated gamma to be 1.667 Homework Equations Lorentz transformations The Attempt at a Solution a' = l' cos(x)...
  30. I

    Finding the relativistic speed of a spacecraft

    Homework Statement If a spacecraft is traveling to a star which is located at a distance of 1 lightyear and it would take the spacecraft 1 year to reach the star in its own frame, how fast would the spacecraft actually fly? Also, how long would the journey take for an observer on Earth...
  31. Ranku

    I Length Contraction & Mass Increase in GR | General Relativity

    In special relativity, an object moving at higher speed experiences time dilation, length contraction, and mass increase, compared to an object moving at slower speed. In general relativity, for an object in stronger gravitational field (i.e., with higher acceleration due to gravity), time runs...
  32. K

    Length contraction and time dilation in relativity

    Homework Statement A graduate student discovers that an elementary particle produced in his experiment travels 0.250 mm through the lab at a speed of 0.950c before it decays (becomes another particle). What is the lifetime of the particle measured in its rest frame (proper lifetime). A) 8.77 x...
  33. M

    B Time Dilation & Length Contraction: Does Relativity Work for Mediums?

    Hello I am new here and I am just Junior college student. So please use simpler terms. I need to know that does relativity work for mediums like air and water. I mean the equations of time dilation and length contraction, do they work for other mediums. If so shall I take C as the speed of light...
  34. Peter Martin

    I Does the "space twin" benefit from length contraction?

    Does the “space twin” benefit from length contraction as well as time dilation? In Einstein’s thought experiment, let one of twins travel to a galaxy known to be 10 light years from Earth at a speed of sixty percent of light speed (0.6c). Were it not for time dilation the one-way trip would...
  35. J

    B Against length contraction explanation of magnetism

    When a test charge stands next to a wire, there are coulomb forces between the test charge and the protons of the wire. 1: When the test charge starts to move, the Coulomb forces stays the same, because distances from test charge to protons stay the same. There is no magnetism in this case...
  36. L

    I Electric currents and length contraction

    Hi people, me bother yo again! I understand that relativity theory length contraction is the explanation of magnetics fields. See the image: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/vuy69jhig3kni3n/densidadcargasencorriente.jpg?dl=0 1) In the S system, if q is moving at the same velocity than the...
  37. D

    Time Dilation and Length Contraction Problem

    Homework Statement Anna and Bob are both born just as Anna's spaceship passes Earth at 0.9c. According to Bob on Earth, Planet Z is a fixed 30 ly away. As Anna passes Planet Z on her continuing outward journey, what will be (a) Bob's age according to Bob, (b) Bob's age according to Anna, (c)...
  38. R

    I Is Length Contraction Accounted for in the Analysis of a Moving Clock?

    Hi Is this analysis right A spaceship is traveling at a steady speed V in the direction shown. Inside the spaceship is a simple clock of length L and consisting of a light source at “a” and a mirror at “b”. The light leaves “a”, bounces off the mirror at “b” and goes back to “a”, which counts...
  39. S

    I Spinning disk, length contraction, & equivalence principle

    Suppose we have a spinning disk with a very fast spin, an observer in the center, and an observer on the edge. Suppose that the observer on the edge measures the circumference of the spinning disk. (1) Now, the observer on the edge at a given instant will be moving at a faster speed than the...
  40. P

    Emitting one or two opposite charges along the x-axis

    Let's consider that I have an emitter that can emit both negative and positive electric charges. Here let's consider only scenarios with two particles (one negative and one positive) that start initially at the tip of some electrode, where one or both the charges will separate from at the same...
  41. D

    Simple Special Relativity Problem of Length Contraction

    Hello, I'm self-studying Ta-Pei Cheng's Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology. Problem 2.8 is the following: Two spaceships traveling in opposite directions pass one another at a relative speed of ##1.25 \times 10^8## m/s. The clock on one spaceship records a time duration of ##9.1 \times...
  42. M

    Length Contraction Formula: How to Calculate Observed Length at High Speeds

    Homework Statement This is a question asked in a entrance examination[/B] A spacecraft moves at a speed of 0.900c with respect to the ground. If its length is L, as measured by an observer on the spacecraft , what is the length measured by a ground observer? Homework Equations observed...
  43. jlmccart03

    Calculating Relative Velocity and Length Contraction in Special Relativity

    Homework Statement The problem states: Racer A and Racer B have the same care length, but from a spectators view Racer A looks (1/2) that of Racer B. Also Racer B is traveling at a speed v = (c/2). I am to find the spedd of Racer A in the spectators frame of reference. Homework Equations...
  44. T

    I Length Contraction: Muon vs Earth Frames

    http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Relativ/muon.html https://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight/jw/module4_time_dilation.htm#equivalence I was looking at these links and got confused. It seems to me that they are saying the same thing but the UNSW link uses the clock in the other...
  45. I

    Special Relativity: Traveling to Regulus

    Homework Statement A visit to Regulus is on my bucket list. However, it is 77 light years away. Assuming I will live only another 40 years, can I make it to Regulus? How fast would I have to travel (at constant speed) to get there in 40 years? Homework Equations t1 = t0...
  46. K

    I Inconsistency in Length contraction

    Let there be 2 astronauts A and B in uniform relative motion and they are moving towards each other. Let A be moving in a spaceship of length L and there are 2 clocks ca1 and ca2 attached to the front and back of the spaceship respectively and let clock of B be cb. The moment when the front of...
  47. K

    I Does the wave function shorten when approaching light speed?

    Relative to the observer, objects shorten when approaching the speed of light exponentially. Does this rule also apply to the wave function? Does this rule also apply to massless particles like Photons? Or am I just simply forgetting something?
  48. F

    Relation between s=d/t and length contraction ?

    Homework Statement A 16m long vessel moved passed you at a relative speed of 0.86c. What was the length of the vessel recorded by your measuring device? Homework Equations Speed = distance/time t=to/√1-v2/c2 L=Lo⋅√1-v2/c2 The Attempt at a Solution Ok, so I can just sub the 16m and 0.86c in...
  49. ibkev

    B Length Contraction: Real Compressive Forces?

    I'd like to get some conceptual clarification on whether or not length contraction is only apparent to an observer or if it's physically real in the sense that the object under contraction would experience compressive forces? My thinking on this has been along the lines of: I know that time...
  50. Pushoam

    Length contraction -- numerical problem

    Homework Statement Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution a) t' = l0/c b) ct1 = l0 /ϒ - vt1 t1 = l0 /ϒ(c + v) c) t2 = l0 / (ϒ v) Is this correct?
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