Question

Suppose you are in a spaceship traveling at 99% of the speed of light past a long, narrow space station. Your direction of travel is parallel to the length of the station. If you measure lengths of objects on the station and also how time is passing on the station, what results will you get

Answer 1

The spaceship will appear shorter

Step-by-step explanation:

Length contraction is given by

`L=L_0\sqrt{1-(v^2)/(c^2)}`

where,

`L_0` = Actual length

v = Speed of the object

`c` = Speed of light =
`3* 10^8\ m/s`

`L=L_0\sqrt{1-(0.99^2c^2)/(c^2)}\\\Rightarrow L=L_0*0.14106`

So, the spaceship will appear shorter.