Q8CQ - College Physics (Urone)

Question

Relativistic effects such as time dilation and length contraction are present for cars and airplanes. Why do these effects seem strange to us?

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

They're unusual since the relativistic effect can only be observed at very high speeds (high enough to be comparable to the speed of light).

Step 1: Define Special Relativity

The special theory of relativity, sometimes known as special relativity, is a physical theory that describes how space and time interact. Theoretically, this is known as STR theory.

Step 2: Explanation

 

Cars and aircraft have a small impact since their speeds are so slow in comparison to the speed of light.

 

Since the value of \({\rm{v}}\) for planes and cars are of the order\({\rm{300 m/s}}\), and also the speed of light is: \({\rm{c  =  300 x 1}}{{\rm{0}}^{\rm{8}}}{\rm{ m/s}}\).

 

Therefore, it is seen that:

\(\frac{{{{\rm{v}}^{\rm{2}}}}}{{{{\rm{c}}^{\rm{2}}}}} \approx {\rm{1 x 1}}{{\rm{0}}^{{\rm{ - 16}}}}\).

 

Which means that the value of \({\rm{\gamma }}\) is almost \({\rm{1}}\).

 

Therefore, they are said to be strange due to the relativistic effect is observable only it has a very high speed (which means they are high enough to be comparable to the speed of light).