Howcome according to theory of relativity when a object moves close to the velocity of light it shrinks in size even though it gains mass?
2006-07-29 11:19:14 · 6 answers · asked by the.chosen.one 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
If one is moving toward a beam of light with, say 0.8 C, he must measure the speed of light (distance / time) as 1.8 C.
But it is proved that he can measure the speed of light as C and not as 1.8 C.
Whatever be his speed, it is the same.
Think for a while, how is it possible?
IF AND ONLY IF HIS MEASURING INSTRUMENTS CHANGE THEIR MAGNITUDES, THIS WILL BE POSSIBLE.
There is no other option.
If he was not moving (was at rest) he will measure the time for the light to cross one meter as 3.33 nano second.
If he is moving with a speed of 0.8 C, he should measure the time for the light to cross one meter as 6 nano second.
But, since the speed of light is not changing, he must measure the time to cross one meter as only 3.33 nano second.
That is, the time of 6 nano second for us must be only 3.33 nano second for the man moving.
If he was not moving (was at rest), in one second the light covers a distance of 0.3 giga meter.
If he is moving with a speed of 0.8 C, he should say that in one second the light covers a distance of 0.54 giga meter.
But, since the speed of light is not changing, he will say that the light covers a distance of 03 giga meter only.
That is, the distance of 0.54 giga meters for us must be only 0.3 giga meter for the man moving.
Thus because of the constancy of light’s speed, the distance and time reduce in their magnitude when the objects move with certain speed.
They do change in such a way, as they do approach the speed of light the change is enormous.
Regarding mass the density increases.
2006-07-29 18:50:51 · answer #1 · answered by Pearlsawme 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hi. A hard answer to grasp but here is a shot. As an object moves faster in a particular direction it (and any objects with it) shrink in the axis of that direction. This has more to do with the space around the objects than the objects themselves. If you had a ruler to measure, say, the length of the object, both the object and the ruler would shrink the same amount so you could not sense or measure this shrinkage. But assuming the above to be true (and MANY experiments have demonstrated it) the mass HAS to go up as the dimension shrinks. At the speed of light the dimension reaches zero and the mass becomes infinite. It would require an infinite force to accelerate the object further, hence the speed of light is, as far as we know, a absolute barrier. (Actually, quantum physics does have a couple of possible loopholes. So who knows?)
2006-07-29 20:33:51 · answer #2 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no contradiction there. The object's length (measured in the direction it in moving) has contracted - relative to the rest frame - and its mass has increased.
The density (mass/volume) increases too.
2006-07-29 18:31:23 · answer #3 · answered by Brian D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
These ideas of time dialation and length contraction are very strange, but it has been verified, at least up to this point. The idea is basically this:
The speed of light is fixed. Something has to give. It is time, or in this case length.
2006-07-30 01:24:43 · answer #4 · answered by Thomas P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is one of the more peculiar results of Einstein's mechanics. But it is important to note that you, as a passenger on a vehicle moving at such a speed, do not see this contraction; it is only visible to somebody who is at "rest" -- i.e., the observer whose measurements indicate that you are going very fast.
2006-07-29 20:16:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
go avax or formw to get book on that
2006-07-30 10:15:18 · answer #6 · answered by shivbhakta 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋