Question

Albert and Emmy are looking to purchase some new spaceships. They pick out two identical single-seat space racers and take them out to space for a test drive. After flying around for a while, they decide to do some experiments.

As Albert flies past Emmy at a very high but constant velocity, Emmy measures the length of Albert's ship and compares it to the length of her own ship.

Emmy observes that Alberts ship is______ her own ship.

a. Ionger than
b. shorter than
c. the same length as

At the same time, Albert observes Emmy's ship and compares it with his ship.

Albert observes that Emmy's ship is________ his ownship
a. Ionger than
b. shorter than
c. the same length as

Answer 1

1) option B. Emmy observes that Albert's ship is shorter than her own ship.

2) option B. Albert observes that Emmy's ship is shorter than her own ship

Step-by-step explanation:

Applying the principle of length contraction where the length of a moving object is seen as being contracted (shorter than its real length),the length of the object in the rest frame does not appear to change.

In this case, the space racer in his own ship measures a reduced length of the other ship flying past it at a high but constant speed. Moreover, the space racer in a ship measures the real length of his own ship and not a contracted length.

Therefore, Emmy will observe that Albert's ship is shorter than her own ship while Albert will also observe that Emmy's ship is shorter than his own ship. It is the principle of length contraction that holds