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    Rod Problem

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    Bhat Musaib
    The rod moves at 0.9c through a slit in a platform that is 1.1 times the length of the rod in its rest frame. When analyzed from both the rod and slit reference frames: 1) In the slit frame, both ends of the rod pass through the slit simultaneously due to Lorentz contraction, but in the rod's frame the slit is contracted and the ends pass through at different times. 2) Calculations show the right end passes through 0.45L/c before the left end, allowing the rod to fit through the contracted slit as seen in its own frame. 3) The problem can also be analyzed using the invariant interval, arriving at the same solution for

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    Rod Problem

    Uploaded by

    Bhat Musaib
    58 views2 pages
    The rod moves at 0.9c through a slit in a platform that is 1.1 times the length of the rod in its rest frame. When analyzed from both the rod and slit reference frames: 1) In the slit frame, both ends of the rod pass through the slit simultaneously due to Lorentz contraction, but in the rod's frame the slit is contracted and the ends pass through at different times. 2) Calculations show the right end passes through 0.45L/c before the left end, allowing the rod to fit through the contracted slit as seen in its own frame. 3) The problem can also be analyzed using the invariant interval, arriving at the same solution for

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    rod_problem

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    The rod moves at 0.9c through a slit in a platform that is 1.1 times the length of the rod in its rest frame. When analyzed from both the rod and slit reference frames: 1) In the slit frame, both ends of the rod pass through the slit simultaneously due to Lorentz contraction, but in the rod's frame the slit is contracted and the ends pass through at different times. 2) Calculations show the right end passes through 0.45L/c before the left end, allowing the rod to fit through the contracted slit as seen in its own frame. 3) The problem can also be analyzed using the invariant interval, arriving at the same solution for

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    58 views2 pages

    Rod Problem

    Uploaded by

    Bhat Musaib
    The rod moves at 0.9c through a slit in a platform that is 1.1 times the length of the rod in its rest frame. When analyzed from both the rod and slit reference frames: 1) In the slit frame, both ends of the rod pass through the slit simultaneously due to Lorentz contraction, but in the rod's frame the slit is contracted and the ends pass through at different times. 2) Calculations show the right end passes through 0.45L/c before the left end, allowing the rod to fit through the contracted slit as seen in its own frame. 3) The problem can also be analyzed using the invariant interval, arriving at the same solution for

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    The Moving Rod Problem

    A rod of proper length L (the length in its rest frame) points along the x axis but moves
    in a direction making an angle of 45◦ to this axis. A platform, also parallel to the x axis,
    lies in the rods way, but a slit of proper length 1.1L has been cut out of it, so that the
    rod can easily fit through if it travels at nonrelativistic speed. What happens if its speed
    is 0.9c? Analyze the problem from both reference frames.

    Answer

    The rod either goes through or it doesn’t. If it goes through in one frame, it must go
    through in all frames. The coordinate system as shown on the viewgraph is a great help.
    We will consider two events:
    1. The left end of the rod passes through the left end of the slit.
    2. The right end of the rod passes through the right end of the slit.
    Assume that, to take the worst case situation, in the frame of the slit, both ends of
    the rod pass through the slit simultaneously, as drawn. Furthermore, the rod is Lorentz
    contracted, so there is no issue as to whether it will fit.
    In the frame of the rod, however, the slit is Lorentz contracted to length
    p
    1.1L × 1 − (0.9 cos 45◦ )2 = 0.85L

    How can it be that the rod still fits through?


    Remember that events that are simultaneous in one frame are not so in another. Therefore
    in the frame of the rod, both ends of the rod do not pass through at the same time. Thus
    the rod is not parallel to the slit. In the slit rest frame, let t = 0 be the time that the
    rod passes through. In the rod’s rest frame, the coordinates of the rod ends are:
    √ √
    End1: (x01 , y10 , t01 ) = (−L/2 2, L/2 2, t01 )
    √ √
    End2: (x02 , y20 , t02 ) = (L/2 2, −L/2 2, t02 )
    Using the Lorentz transformation for x, and remembering that in the slit frame t1 = t2 = 0
    we have
    x01 = γ(x1 − vt1 ) = γx1
    √
    so x1 = −L/2γ 2. Thus the coordinates of the rod ends in the rest frame of the slit
    (remembering that y1 = y10 ) are:
    √ √
    End1: (x1 , y1 , t1 ) = (−L/2γ 2, L/2 2, 0)
    √ √
    End2: (x2 , y2 , t2 ) = (L/2γ 2, −L/2 2, 0)
    Transform these into the rod’s frame to find the time of the two events in that frame
    vx1 √
    t01 = γ(t1 − 2 ) = βL/2 2c = 0.225L/c
    c
    since t1 = t2 = 0, and β = 0.636,
    vx2 √
    t02 = γ(t2 − 2
    ) = −βL/2 2c = −0.225L/c
    c
    The right hand end passes through 0.45L/c before the left.
    Furthermore, we could use the invariance of the interval here, since
    √ √
    ∆x0 = L/ 2, ∆t0 =?, ∆x = L/γ 2, ∆t = 0
    we have

    L2 /2γ 2 = L2 /2 − c2 ∆t02
    µ ¶
    02 L2 1
    ∆t = 1− 2
    2c2 γ
    µ ¶1
    0 L 1 2
    ∆t = √ 1− 2
    2c γ
    βL
    ∆t0 = √
    2c
    as before.

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