Lab 13 Relativity

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Lab 13 Relativity Purpose: The purpose of this laboratory activity is to gain familiarity with the terms and phrases used in relativistic physics and to compare relative motion scenarios at everyday speeds with motion near the speed of light (c). Materials: Ruler, Paper, Pencil. Procedures: 1.Person A is standing in a field, and person B is riding in a car that is moving with velocity (v). The person in the car shines a flashlight in the direction he or she is moving. Question: What speed of light will each person measure? 2.Person A is standing in a field. Person A has a "light clock" (two mirrors reflecting a beam of light back and forth) and a watch synchronized with the light clock. Person B is in a moving car with a light clock synchronized to his or her watch. Discuss what happens with regard to the time measured by each watch. 3.Person A is at rest with a light clock. Person B is in a car moving to the left (as seen by Person A) with a light clock. Discuss how each person will perceive time. Use algebra to find the time measured by Person A with respect to how he or she perceives the time measured by person B. 4.Person A is flying through space with Person B exactly 186,000 miles behind. When Person A wants to accelerate, he or she uses a flashlight to signal person B. This means they accelerate together and remain exactly 186,000 miles apart. Person A waits exactly 1 second to allow the light to reach Person B before he or she accelerates, so they remain 186,000 miles apart from their perspective. What observation will a person standing on the ground (at rest with respect to the ground) make? Data: No data in this lab. Calculations: No calculations in this lab. Results: No results in this lab. Conclusions: 1.The speed of light equals the speed of the car, suppose person A to measure the speed of light. But if person in the car

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