Question

Admiral Picard is on a space station, and he sees Captain Riker fly by in a spaceship moving with speed V. Picard flashes a red light, waits on second as measured by his watch, then flashes a blue light. Please answer the following questions with True or False.

A) Picard measures the light from the flashes to be moving at the same speed that Riker measures (T/F)?

B) The two flashes occur at the same location in Riker's reference frame (T/F)?

C) It is possible that the blue flash occurs before the red flash in Riker's reference frame (T/F)?
D) In Riker's reference frame, the speed of the space station is V (T/F)?
E) In Riker's refernece frame, the time between the flashes is longer than one second (T/F)?

Thank you in advance!!!

Answer 1

A) The speed of light is a constant in any reference frame according to special theory of relativity.

So, the statement is true.

B) According to special relativity, the distanc ebetween two points change for an observer moving.

But since his velocity is not changing, he will see the light coming from the same point (whic mag be having a different position compared to picard.

So, the statement is true

C) According to special relativity, this can happen only when v is greater than the speed of light. But this is theoretically imposisble.

So, the statement is false

D) According to special relativity, if the speed of A is V as viewed by B, the speed of B is also V as viewed by A.

So, the statement is true.

E) Time slows down for a person moving fast. So, the time 1 s, as viewed by the stationary observer will be less than 1 second for a moving person.

So, the stattement is false.