Quite apart from effects due to Earth’s rotational and orbital motions, a laboratory reference frame is not strictly an inertial frame because a particle at rest there will not, in general, remain at rest; it will fall. Often, however, events happen so quickly that we can ignore the gravitational acceleration and treat the frame as inertial. Consider, for example, an electron of speed v =0.992c, projected horizontally into a laboratory test chamber and moving through a distance of 20 cm. (a) How long would that take, and (b) how far would the electron fall during this interval? (c) What can you conclude about the suitability of the laboratory as an inertial frame in this case?

Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Foundations and Connections
1st Edition
ISBN:9781133939146
Author:Katz, Debora M.
Publisher:Katz, Debora M.
Chapter39: Relativity
Section: Chapter Questions
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Quite apart from effects due to Earth’s rotational and orbital
motions, a laboratory reference frame is not strictly an inertial
frame because a particle at rest there will not, in general, remain at
rest; it will fall. Often, however, events happen so quickly that we
can ignore the gravitational acceleration and treat the frame as
inertial. Consider, for example, an electron of speed v =0.992c,
projected horizontally into a laboratory test chamber and moving
through a distance of 20 cm. (a) How long would that take, and
(b) how far would the electron fall during this interval? (c) What
can you conclude about the suitability of the laboratory as an inertial
frame in this case?

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