An observer standing by the railroad tracks observes two bolts of lightning strike the ends of a 300-m-long train (length measured in their reference frame) simultaneously at the instant the middle of the train passes him at 45 m/s. Use the Lorentz transformation to answer below questions. Let the instant at which lightning bolts strike bet = 0, and at t = 0 and t'= 0, let the middle of the train (which defines x'= 0) be at the location of observer by the railroad track (x = 0).

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An observer standing by the railroad tracks observes two bolts of lightning strike the
ends of a 300-m-long train (length measured in their reference frame) simultaneously at
the instant the middle of the train passes him at 45 m/s. Use the Lorentz transformation
to answer below questions. Let the instant at which lightning bolts strike be t = 0, and
at t = 0 and t'= 0, let the middle of the train (which defines x'= 0) be at the location
of observer by the railroad track (x = 0).
Hint
a. As observed by an observer in the middle of the train, when does the lightning
bolt strike the front of the train? Use the sign of your answer to indicate whether
the lightning bolt strikes the front of the train before (negative sign) or after
(positive sign) the middle of the train passes the railroad track observer
Lightning bolt strikes the front of the train at t'= -0.015
×10-1³s.
X
b. As observed by an observer in the middle of the train, when does the lightning
bolt strike the back of the train? Use the sign of your answer to indicate whether
the lightning bolt strikes the back of the train before (negative sign) or after
(positive sign) the middle of the train passes the railroad track observer
Lightning bolt strikes the back of the train at t'=
x10-13.
c. If the lightning bolts strike the two ends of the train simultaneously as observed by
the observer on the train, which event occurs first in the reference frame of the
observer by the railroad tracks?
O Lightning bolt strikes the back of the train first.
O Lightning bolts strike the front and the back of the train simultaneously.
O Lightning bolt strikes the front of the train first.
Although these numbers are obviously too small to be measured with objects moving at
everyday speed, the effects are real and become more significant as speed of the train
approaches c.
Transcribed Image Text:An observer standing by the railroad tracks observes two bolts of lightning strike the ends of a 300-m-long train (length measured in their reference frame) simultaneously at the instant the middle of the train passes him at 45 m/s. Use the Lorentz transformation to answer below questions. Let the instant at which lightning bolts strike be t = 0, and at t = 0 and t'= 0, let the middle of the train (which defines x'= 0) be at the location of observer by the railroad track (x = 0). Hint a. As observed by an observer in the middle of the train, when does the lightning bolt strike the front of the train? Use the sign of your answer to indicate whether the lightning bolt strikes the front of the train before (negative sign) or after (positive sign) the middle of the train passes the railroad track observer Lightning bolt strikes the front of the train at t'= -0.015 ×10-1³s. X b. As observed by an observer in the middle of the train, when does the lightning bolt strike the back of the train? Use the sign of your answer to indicate whether the lightning bolt strikes the back of the train before (negative sign) or after (positive sign) the middle of the train passes the railroad track observer Lightning bolt strikes the back of the train at t'= x10-13. c. If the lightning bolts strike the two ends of the train simultaneously as observed by the observer on the train, which event occurs first in the reference frame of the observer by the railroad tracks? O Lightning bolt strikes the back of the train first. O Lightning bolts strike the front and the back of the train simultaneously. O Lightning bolt strikes the front of the train first. Although these numbers are obviously too small to be measured with objects moving at everyday speed, the effects are real and become more significant as speed of the train approaches c.
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