Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321740904
ISBN 13: 978-0-32174-090-8

Chapter 36 - Relativity - Exercises and Problems - Page 1098: 20

Answer

(a) The person on the airliner has aged less than friends at home. (b) The person on the airliner aged $~~13.8~ns~~$ less than friends at home.

Work Step by Step

(a) The person on the airliner was moving at a high speed so the person on the airliner has aged less than friends at home. (b) We can find the time of a one-way flight according to observers on the ground: $t' = \frac{d}{v} = \frac{5.0\times 10^6~m}{250~m/s} = 2.0\times 10^4~s$ We can find the elapsed time $t_0$ in the airliner reference frame: $t' = \gamma~t_0$ $t_0 = \frac{t'}{\gamma}$ $t_0 = t'~\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}$ $t_0 = (2.0\times 10^4~s)~\sqrt{1-\frac{(250~m/s)^2}{(3.0\times 10^8~m/s)^2}}$ $t_0 = 19,999.999999993~s$ We can find the time difference: $\Delta t = t' - t_0$ $\Delta t = (20,000~s) - (19,999.999999993~s)$ $\Delta t = 6.9~ns$ Since the flight was a return flight, the total time difference is $13.8~ns$ The person on the airliner aged $~~13.8~ns~~$ less than friends at home.
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