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At a speed of 55 mph, you need about ___ seconds to pass another vehicle.

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Final answer:

The concept of relativistic length contraction in physics explains that an object moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light would appear shorter to a stationary observer. To calculate the speed at which a 6.0 m-long sports car would need to travel to appear 5.5 m long, the length contraction formula would be used, but such speeds are beyond the practical capabilities of vehicles and not achievable on public roads.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question you've asked relates to the concept of relativistic length contraction, which is explored in physics. When an object moves at a significant fraction of the speed of light, its length appears to contract to a stationary observer.

The formula for length contraction is L = L0 * √(1 - v^2/c^2), where L is the contracted length, L0 is the rest length, v is the velocity of the object, and c is the speed of light. In your case, for a 6.0 m-long sports car to appear 5.5 m long, we'll need to rearrange the equation to solve for v.

To find this speed, we would use the equation L = L0 * √(1 - v^2/c^2) and solve for v. But since such high speeds are far beyond the practical capabilities of a sports car and not achievable on public roads, this is more of a theoretical exercise than a practical one.

Please note that at typical highway speeds, the effects of relativistic length contraction are inconceivably small and would not be noticeable.

User Samir Bhatt
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