High School

How long will a meter stick look which is traveling at. 95c to observers at rest ?
Group of answer choices
A. 27.4 cm
B. 31.2 cm
C. 1 m
D. 38.3 cm
E. 35.6 cm

Answer :

To observers at rest, a meter stick traveling at 0.95c will appear shortened to b) 31.2 cm due to length contraction from special relativity.

To determine the length of a meter stick traveling at 0.95c (where c is the speed of light), we use the concept of length contraction from special relativity. According to this principle, the length of an object moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light will appear shorter to an observer at rest. The formula for length contraction is given by:

[tex]L = L0 * sqrt(1 - v^2/c^2)[/tex]

where:

  • L is the contracted length observed.
  • L0 is the original length (1 meter in this case).
  • v is the velocity of the object (0.95c).
  • c is the speed of light.

Calculating this, we get the length of the meter stick as observed by the at-rest observers would be 31.2 cm.