Question

Twins abby and bill separate. abby travels at a uniform speed (except for the brief turn- around period) to a star 4.5 light years away and, upon returning, finds that she is 5.5 years younger than bill.

how much did bill age during the period abby was traveling?

Answer 1

To determine how much Bill aged during Abby's trip, the time dilation factor is applied. Since Abby aged 5.5 years less, we subtract this from the time Bill aged due to time dilation, resulting in a total of 54.5 years for Bill.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question deals with the concept of time dilation, a phenomenon predicted by Einstein's theory of special relativity, as illustrated by the 'Twin Paradox.' In the scenario provided, Abby travels to a star 4.5 light years away at high velocity, causing her to age less than her twin Bill, who remains on Earth. When Abby returns, she has aged 5.5 years less than Bill.

To solve , we can use the given example where the astronaut (Abby) has a time dilation factor (y) of 30.0. Abby's round trip to the star and back took 2.00 years from her perspective. If we apply the time dilation factor, we find that Bill aged 2.00 years × 30.0 = 60.0 years during Abby's trip.

Since Abby is 5.5 years younger upon her return, we subtract 5.5 years from Bill's aging process to determine his total aging during Abby's trip, which results in 60.0 years - 5.5 years = 54.5 years.