Physics 107

Problem 1.1

O. A. Pringle

All of the phenomena of special relativity depend upon the factor G(v):
2

G( v) 1

v
c

The square box at the end of this equation indicates it is just text; i.e., not "live."

If c were smaller, then G(v) would differ from unity at much lower velocities v thus making relativistic effects
more conspicuous than they are now. Let's plot G(v) as a function of v/c to see the effect.
This column is for c=3x10 8.

This column is for c=3x10 7.

Set the range of v:

Set the range of v:

c := 3 10

cc := 3 10

v := 0 c , 0.01 c .. c
2

G( v) :=

Plot:

GG( v) :=

cc

Plot:

G( v) 0.5

GG( v) 0.5

0
0

1 .10

2 .10
v

3 .10

Notice how G(v) falls rather slowly.

0
0

1 .10

2 .10
v

3 .10

Notice the rapid dropoff in GG(v)

=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.2

O. A. Pringle

The image of a moving object created by the successive impacts of the electrons on the screen is not an object.
The information carried by the electrons moves from the electron gun to the screen at a speed below that of
light.
Adjacent dots on the screen may light up as if the dot had moved from one position to the next at a speed
greater than the speed of light, but in fact, no dot moved. Each lit dot is produced by a different electron.
=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.3

O. A. Pringle

If the observer in the spacecraft times the run by watching a clock on earth, nothing is gained because the
clock and athlete are in the same reference frame (the athlete's speed is so small compared to c that we can
ignore his motion relative to the clock).
If the observer in the spacecraft times the run by watching a clock in the spacecraft, it appears as if the clock
on the earth ran slow, so that, in fact, MORE time elapsed during the run. The spacecraft observer would
actually measure a longer time.
This answer ignores the complication of length contraction, which we will get into later in this chapter.
However, including length contraction would still not help the athlete.

Physics 107

Problem 1.4

O. A. Pringle

Solution: we apply the time dilation equation. An observer on the spacecraft measures a dilated time t =
40 min. We need to calculate the proper time, as measured by the driver of the car
t0

t :=

v
c

v
t0 := t 1
c

Assign values and solve:

c := 1

v := 0.7 c

v
t0 := t 1
c

t := 40

t0 = 28.566
Something to think about: what time would an observer who remained stationary on earth measure?

Physics 107

Problem 1.5

O. A. Pringle

Solution (a): by A's reckoning, B's watch runs slow. Suppose A has two identical watches. Watch 1 is used
as the timer and watch 2 is used to provide a time interval. If both watches are in A's frame of reference,
watch 1 will measure the proper time t0 for the time interval. If A gives watch 2 to B, and B moves relative to
A, A can use watch 1 to measure the time t it takes for watch 2 to tick off the time interval. Since the moving
watch 2 ticks more slowly (according to A, who is doing the measuring), A's watch 1 must record a longer
time for watch 2 to indicate the same time interval that it indicated when it was in A's reference frame.Thus,
when the watches differ by 1 s, A's watch 1, which is being used to measure the time t, has ticked 1 more
second. Thus, t=t0+1; t is always greater than t0.
The two equations we need to solve are the time dilation equation and the relationship t=t0+1.
t0

t :=

v
c

and

t := t0 + 1

Solve the above two equations for t (Let be the square root):
t :=

t1

t := t 1

Result:

t :=

t t := 1

1
1

Assign values to parameters:

c := 300000000
v := 200000000

Or I could say c=1

and v=2c/3.

 :=

t :=

Calculated t:

v
1

t = 3.927seconds
Solution (b): According to B, A is in motion relative to B. Moving watches (relative to the observer) always
run slow. Therefore, B claims A's watch runs slow.
=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.6

O. A. Pringle

Solution: this is just problem 1.5 with an airplane replacing a rocket ship. Just plug in the new numbers.
As in problem 1.5,
t :=

1
Assign values to parameters:
c := 300000000
v := 300
:=
Calculate t:

t :=

1
1
12

t = 1.9998 10 seconds
You can use c=2.998x10 8 if you want and get a slightly different answer.
=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.7

O. A. Pringle

Solution: an observer on the spacecraft measures a proper time t 0=1 d, and a dilated time t=2 d for the same
event as it takes place on the "moving" earth. We solve the time dilation equation for v.
t :=

t0
1

v
c

2
v
t0
1 :=
c
t

v := c 1

t0

t

Define the values and plug them in:

c := 1

t0 := 1

t := 2

t0
v := c 1
t

v = 0.866

Or v=0.866 c, because I let c=1.

Physics 107

Problem 1.8

O. A. Pringle

This is another time dilation problem. We are given a relative velocity. We are given a time interval t0 of one day on
the spacecraft moving relative to an observer. We want to find the dilated time t measured by the observer.
Let's define our variables first, so I don't have to make the time dilation equation into text and then later on re-enter it
as an equation.
We don't need to worry about units
8
4
c := 3 10
v := 1.08 10
here because velocities have same units.
t0 := 1 The time here is in days, so my answer t
will be in days.
t :=

t0
This is the equation for t. Below I will type
"t=" to see the answer.

v
c

t=1

There are not enough digits to show any effect.

Below I will type "t=" again and then
type "f" to allow me to show more digits.

t = 1.000000000648

Click on the number and select Math, Numerical Format to see that I picked a
precision of 12 to display t.

The problem asks how much longer t is than t, so I'd better calculate t-t0.
10

t t0 = 6.48 10

days
5

or ( t t0) 24 3600 = 5.599 10seconds.

=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.9

O. A. Pringle

Solution: our first job is to figure out that the problem is really asking us to calculate how far a human
observer would observe this particle to travel.
The observer sees the particle moving at a speed of 0.99c, and sees the particles "clock" dilated according
to equation 1.3, where t0 is the time the observer sees the particle in motion.
We need to calculate d=vt, where v=0.99c and t is given by eq. 1.3. I'm going to include units in this
solution. You could append the file "units.mcd" to for use with this problem. Instead, I will do the units
here for you to see.
Define units:
Define parameters:

m 1L

kg 1M
7

8 m

c := 3 10

Pertinent equations:

s 1T

t0 := 10

v := 0.99 c

t0

t :=

v
c

d := v t
d = 210.5 m

Physics 107
Problem 1.17
O. A. Pringle
An observer in the same spacecraft, at rest relative to the astronaut, measures the proper length, 6 ft, of
the astronaut.
If the astronaut were lying perpendicular to the velocity vector of the spacecraft, the observer on earth
would also measure his proper length. But with the astronaut parallel to the direction of relative motion,
the observer on earth measures a contracted length.
Define parameters, then do calculation.
L0 := 6

c := 1

L := L0 1

v
c

v := 0.9 c

L = 2.615 feet

=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.18

O. A. Pringle

Solution: this is just problem 1.17 but solving for L0 instead of L.

Define parameters:
L := 1.3

c := 1

v := 0.6 c
L

L0 :=

L0 = 1.625 meters

=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.19

O. A. Pringle

Relative Speed:
8

c := 3 10 m/s

v := 0.1 c

L0 := 1
We need to solve for the contracted length L, and then determine how long it takes to travel this
length at a speed of 0.1*c.

L := L0 1

v
c

L = 0.995
The equation d=vt still works in relativity, so we can solve it for t:
t :=

L
v

t = 3.317 10

Physics 107
Relative Speed:
L0 := 1
We need to solve

Problem 1.20

L := 0.5

v
L := L0 1
c
2

O. A. Pringle
c := 3 10

m/s

L := 1 v
c
L

0

for v.

v := 1 L
c
L

0

L
v := c 1
L0

v = 2.6 10m/s
Time to pass observer: (I call it t 0
because the event is timed in the
observer's reference frame.

t0 :=

t0 = 1.92 10

=================================================================================
Physics 107
Problem 1.21
O. A. Pringle
This problem is tricky because when the spacecraft moves, the projection of the antenna along the
spacecraft contracts, which means that the apparent length of the antenna also contracts. You have to
be careful to take both contractions into account. It also helps to have a drawing.
Let L0 be the length of the antenna when the spacecraft is at rest, and x0 be the projection of the antenna
parallel to the direction of spacecraft travel when the spacecraft is at rest. Then when the spacecraft is
at rest, the angle of the antenna is found from

( )

x0 := L0 cos 0

When the spacecraft is in motion, both L0 and x0 appear contracted to an observer on earth, and the
angle can be found from
x := L cos( )
except that you can't apply the length contraction formula to L0 in order to calculate L, because the
antenna has a component of length perpendicular to the direction of motion which has not been
contracted.
Let's let y be the projection of the antenna length perpendicular to the motion. When the spacecraft is
in motion, the antenna has a length L, a projection x=L cos() along the direction of motion, and a
projection y=L sin() perpendicular to the direction of motion. The angle is given by
tan( ) :=

:=

L sin( )

L cos( )
That last equation looks "circular" (we already know tan=sin/cos) except that we can use our original
angle to calculate the numerator, and we can apply the length contraction equation to the denominator,
because it represents the component along the direction of relative motion.
tan( ) :=

( )

L0 sin 0

( L0 cos( 0))

tan( ) :=
2

v
c

L0 sin( 10)

( L0 cos( 10) )

v
c

tan( ) :=

:= atan

2
1v

2
c

tan( 10)
2

v
c

tan( 10)

To solve, plug in values, and remember to convert angles to radians when you are using Mathcad.
c := 1

v := 0.7 c

0 := 10

2
360

tan( 0)

v
1 2
c

:= atan

= 0.242 radians
:=

360

= 13.869 degrees

=================================================================================
Physics 107
Problem 1.26
O. A. Pringle
Define parameters:

m := 3

v
c

c := 1

:= 1

m0

v := c 1

m0

m0 := 1

so

v = 0.943

Or, expressed in m/s:

c := 3 10

v := c 1

m0

2
8

v = 2.8 10 m/s

=================================================================================
Physics 107

Problem 1.27

Solution: we need to solve

m :=

m0

O. A. Pringle

for v.
2

v
c

c := 1

Define parameters:
2

v
c

:= 1

m0

so

v := c 1

m := 101

m0

m0 := 100

v = 0.14
c

Or, expressed in m/s: c := 3 10

v := c 1

m0

v = 4.2 10 m/s
Physics 107
Problem 1.28
O. A. Pringle
Part (a). Let the mass of the object be m, and its dimensions be x, y, and z. Assume the object is moving
so that its z dimension is the dimension in relative motion.
This part is all symbolic; Mathcad 2.5, which I originally used to create the solution, was not very good for it.
2

:=

Let

v
c

The moving object's relativistic mass is m :=

It's z-dimension becomes

z := z0

It's density appears to be

:=

m0

m
x y z

m0

:=

:=

x y z0
0 :=

Because the "rest" density is

m0
x y z0

m0
x y z0

and 0 are related by :=

Because is less than 1, the relativistic density is always greater than the rest density.
Part (b). Note the typo in Beiser's density units.
2

:=

1 0.8

0 := 1.1 10

:=

= 3.056 10

=================================================================================
Physics 107
Problem 1.29
O. A. Pringle
Solution: 1 kg of dynamite liberates 5.4x106 J of energy. The energy content of this kg is m0c2. The
fraction is simply
6
5.4 10
f :=
2
c
8

We need to use c := 3 10 (mks units).

Then

f :=

5.4 10
c

f = 6 10

11

Physics 107
Problem 1.30
O. A. Pringle
It takes 80 calories to melt a gram of ice, and a calorie is equivalent to 4.19 Joules.
Also,

m c := m0 c + K and in this case, K is just the energy added to melt the ice, so K := m0 L

(2 )

Thus, m c := m0 c + L and

m := m0 + 1

Define L and solve for m.0:

cal := 1

g := 1

L := 80

cal
g

1000

L = 3.352 10
2

g
kg

kg := 1

4.19

J := 1

c := 3 10

J
cal

m0 c + c := m0 c + m0 L
m0 :=

L
11

m0 = 2.685 10 kg
=================================================================================
Physics 107
Problem 1.31
O. A. Pringle
rest_energy := m0 c

KE := m c m0 c

When KE=rest_energy,
2

m c m0 c := m0 c
m0
2

m c := 2 m0 c

m := 2 m0

I cancelled out the c2's.

:= 2 m0

v
c

Cancel the m0's and re-arrange:

2

1 := 2 1

v
c

divide by 2 and square both sides

2

0.25 := 1

v
c

v := 0.75 c

v := 0.866 c

Physics 107

Problem 1.32
2

O. A. Pringle

m c := m0 c + K

Again, we use

m0

m :=

At a speed of 0.9c,

where v/c=0.9.
2

v
c

Let's define m.0, c, and v, and then solve for K.

8

c := 3 10

m0 := 1

K :=

Solving for K gives

m0 c

v := 0.9 c
m0 c

17

K = 1.165 10 Joules per kilogram.

=================================================================================
Physics 107
Problem 1.33
Let's begin by converting MeV to mks units.
eV := 1.602 10

19

This converts eV to Joules

Now we use our familiar equations of classical mechanics.

31

m0 := 9.109 10
vcl :=

O. A. Pringle
6

MeV := eV 10
Kc := m0

Kc := 0.1 MeV

kg

Kc

vcl

This converts eV to MeV

2

vcl = 1.875 10m/s

m0

I am going to define K(v) as K.r and solve the above equation for v.
8

Kr := 0.1 MeV

c := 3 10
1

v := c 1

Kr

1+
2

c
0

I cut this equation out of specrel.mcd and multiplied

both sides by c; it is just mc2=m0c2+K solved for v/c,
but it is sure easier to use than solving "by hand"
every time. Make sure this is on your 3x5 card.

v = 1.644 10m/s
Let's put the two answers side-by-side for comparison:
8

vcl = 1.875 10
8

v = 1.644 10

The nonrelativistically calculated velocity is larger because we didn't take into account the relativistic
mass increase that takes place when the electron speeds up.

10

Physics 107

Problem 1-34

c := 2.998 10

eV := 1.602 10
keV := eV 10

O. A. Pringle
31

m0 := 9.109 10

19

K := 5 keV
The relativistic velocity is:

vr := c 1

1 + K

2
m0 c

vr = 4.163 10 m/s
Since

K := m c m0 c

We can write: m( K) m0 :=

K
c

mk :=

K
c

+ m0

mk = 9.198 10

31

I had to put a dotted box around this equation, select Math,

Numerical Formant, and make zero tolerance a "big" number (40
in this case) to see an answer here.

To express m.k in terms of the rest mass, we can calculate the ratio
r :=

mk
m0

r = 1.0098
The electron's mass is 1.0098 times its rest mass.

11

Physics 107
Problem 1.35
This is just like the second half of problem 1.34.
v
c

:=

O. A. Pringle

m( v) :=

2
1 + K( v)

2
mo c

eV := 1.602 10

mo
2

v
c

19

MeV := eV 10

31

m0 := 9.109 10

c := 2.998 10

K := 500 MeV

Copy the equation for v/c above and solve it for v:

1

v := c 1

Just for kicks, let's see v:

1 + K

2
m0 c

v = 2.997998 10

Copy the equation for m above. If I set m0=1, I get desired ratio.
m( v) :=

1
2

v
c

m( v) = 979 The electron mass is 979 times its rest mass, or 97900 percent of its rest mass.
What about percentage increase?
m0 := 1 "Here's where I had to set m0=1.
m := 979 m0
Percent := 100

m m0
m0
4

Percent = 9.78 10

12

Physics 107

Problem 1.36

O. A. Pringle

I will append the Problem 1.35 solution below, delete extra stuff, and change the rest mass to the proton's rest
mass.
eV := 1.602 10

19

MeV := eV 10

27

m0 := 1.672 10

c := 2.998 10

K := 500 MeV

Solve for v:
1

v := c 1

Just for kicks, let's see v:

1 + K

2
m0 c

v = 2.272334 10

Set m0=1 to get desired ratio.

m( v) :=

1
2

v
c

m( v) = 1.533

The proton mass is 1.533 times its rest mass, or 153 percent of its rest mass.

The percentage increase is 100*(m-m 0)/m0 with

P := 100

m0 := 1

m( v) m0
m0

P = 53.3 percent
=================================================================================
Physics 107
Problem 1.37
Using the appropriate equation from specrel.mcd:
2

K( v) = m( v) c m0 c = 2 m0 c m0 c = m0 c

O. A. Pringle

I see two ways to do this. First, get m0 for the neutron and plug it and c2 into the equation K=m0c2.
Second, and even easier, note that the kinetic energy is equal to the neutron rest mass multiplied by c2.
But the table in the front of the book gives precisely this number: the neutron rest mass is 939.6 MeV/c2.
That's the answer:
K = 939.6 MeV.
You get the same answer, with minimal extra work, by plugging c and m.0 into the equation.

13

Physics 107

Problem 1.38
27

Part (a) mproton := 1.673 10

mproton c

KE( v) :=

mproton c

v
c

ratio1 :=

c := 3 10

O. A. Pringle

KE( 0.4 c)
KE( 0.2 c)

ratio1 = 4.417
Part (b)

ratio2 :=

KE( 0.8 c)
KE( 0.4 c)

ratio2 = 7.319
=================================================================================
Physics 107
Problem 1.39
Solution: a body in motion has a total energy
2

E := m c :=

m0 c

O. A. Pringle

The work done on the electron is just the difference in the energies E at the two different velocities:
W := E2 E1
c := 1

Define parameters
v1 :=

Solve:

1.2
3

MeV := 1
v2 :=

W := m0 c
2

2.4
3

1
1

2
2
v2
v1

1
1 2
2
c
c

m0 := 0.511

MeV
c

W = 0.294 MeV

14