To calculate the speed at which a 6.0 m-long sports car would appear only 5.5 m long, we can use the concept of relative motion.
When an object is moving towards an observer, it appears shorter than its actual length.
We can use the formula:
Apparent Length = Actual Length (Speed of Observer / Speed of Object)
Plugging in the values, we have: 5.5 m = 6.0 m * (Speed of Observer / Speed of Object)
By solving this equation, we can find the speed at which the sports car would have to be moving past the observer to appear 5.5 m long.