Lecture 11, #4 – Length Contraction

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

A crew of astronauts on a rocket is traveling in space at a speed of 0.9c as measured by people on a nearby space satellite. The rocket passes by the satellite according to people on the satellite, but the satellite passes by the rocket according to the crew on the rocket.

a) According to the crew, their rocket is 25 m long. According to the people on the satellite, how long is the rocket?

b) According to people on the satellite, the satellite is 100 m long. According to the people on the rocket, how long is the satellite?