Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:
- Describe proper length
- Calculate length contraction
- Explain why we do not notice these effects at everyday scales
Have you ever driven on a road that seems like it goes on forever? If you look ahead, you might say you have about 10 km left to go. Another traveler might say the road ahead looks like it’s about 15 km long. If you both measured the road, however, you would agree. Traveling at everyday speeds, the distance you both measure would be the same. You will read in this section, however, that this is not true at relativistic speeds. Close to the speed of light, distances measured are not the same when measured by different observers.
Proper Length
Proper Length
One thing all observers agree upon is relative speed. Even though clocks measure different elapsed times for the same process, they still agree that relative speed, which is distance divided by elapsed time, is the same. This implies that distance, too, depends on the observer’s relative motion. If two observers see different times, then they must also see different distances for relative speed to be the same to each of them.
The muon discussed in Example 11.1 illustrates this concept. To an observer on Earth, the muon travels at for from the time it is produced until it decays. Thus, it travels a distance
relative to Earth. In the muon’s frame of reference, its lifetime is only It has enough time to travel only
The distance between the same two events—the production and decay of a muon—depends on who measures it and how they are moving relative to it.
Proper Length
Proper length is the distance between two points measured by an observer who is at rest relative to both of the points.
The Earth-bound observer measures the proper length because the points at which the muon is produced and decays are stationary relative to Earth. To the muon, Earth, the air, and the clouds are moving, and so the distance it sees is not the proper length.
Length Contraction
Length Contraction
To develop an equation relating distances measured by different observers, we note that the velocity relative to the Earth-bound observer in our muon example is given by
The time relative to the Earth-bound observer is , since the object being timed is moving relative to this observer. The velocity relative to the moving observer is given by
The moving observer travels with the muon and therefore observes the proper time The two velocities are identical; thus,
We know that Substituting this equation into the relationship above gives
Substituting for gives an equation relating the distances measured by different observers.
Length Contraction
Length contraction is the shortening of the measured length of an object moving relative to the observer’s frame.
If we measure the length of anything moving relative to our frame, we find its length to be smaller than the proper length that would be measured if the object were stationary. For example, in the muon’s reference frame, the distance between the points where it was produced and where it decayed is shorter. Those points are fixed relative to Earth but moving relative to the muon. Clouds and other objects are also contracted along the direction of motion in the muon’s reference frame.
Making Connections: Length Contraction
One of the consequences of Einstein’s theory of special relativity is the concept of length contraction. Consider a 10-cm stick. If this stick is traveling past you at a speed close to the speed of light, its length will no longer appear to be 10 cm. The length measured when the stick is at rest is calledits proper length. The length measured when the stick is in motion close to the speed of light will always be less than the proper length. This is what is known as length contraction. But the effect of length contraction can only be observed if the stick moves really fast—close to the speed of light. In principle, when the speed of the stick is equal to the speed of light,the stick should have no length.
Example 11.2 Calculating Length Contraction: The Distance Between Stars Contracts When You Travel at High Velocity
Suppose an astronaut, such as the twin discussed in Simultaneity and Time Dilation, travels so fast that (a) She travels from Earth to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, 4.300 light years (ly) away as measured by an Earth-bound observer. How far apart are Earth and Alpha Centauri as measured by the astronaut? (b) In terms of what is her velocity relative to Earth? You may neglect the motion of Earth relative to the sun. (See Figure 11.11.)
Strategy
First note that a light year (ly) is a convenient unit of distance on an astronomical scale—it is the distance light travels in a year. For part (a), note that the 4.300 ly distance between Alpha Centauri and Earth is the proper distance because it is measured by an Earth-bound observer to whom both stars are approximately stationary. To the astronaut, Earth and Alpha Centauri are moving by at the same velocity, and so the distance between them is the contracted length In part (b), we are given and so we can find by rearranging the definition of to express in terms of .
Solution for (a)
- Identify the knowns.
- Identify the unknown.
- Choose the appropriate equation.
11.25 - Rearrange the equation to solve for the unknown.
11.26
Solution for (b)
- Identify the known.
- Identify the unknown. in terms of
- Choose the appropriate equation.
11.27
- Rearrange the equation to solve for the unknown.
11.28
Squaring both sides of the equation and rearranging terms gives
11.29so that
11.30and
11.31Taking the square root, we find
11.32which is rearranged to produce a value for the velocity.
11.33
Discussion
First, remember that you should not round off calculations until the final result is obtained, or you could get erroneous results. This is especially true for special relativity calculations, where the differences might only be revealed after several decimal places. The relativistic effect is large here and we see that is approaching, not equaling, the speed of light. Since the distance as measured by the astronaut is so much smaller, the astronaut can travel it in much less time in her frame.
People could be sent very large distances, perhaps thousands or even millions of light years, and age only a few years on the way if they traveled at extremely high velocities. But, like emigrants of centuries past, they would leave Earth they know forever. Even if they returned, thousands to millions of years would have passed on Earth, obliterating most of what now exists. There is also a more serious practical obstacle to traveling at such velocities; immensely greater energies than classical physics predicts would be needed to achieve such high velocities. This will be discussed in Relativistic Energy.
Why don’t we notice length contraction in everyday life? The distance to the grocery shop does not seem to depend on whether we are moving or not. Examining the equation , we see that at low velocities () the lengths are nearly equal, the classical expectation. But length contraction is real, if not commonly experienced. For example, a charged particle, like an electron, traveling at relativistic velocity has electric field lines that are compressed along the direction of motion as seen by a stationary observer. (See Figure 11.12.) As the electron passes a detector, such as a coil of wire, its field interacts much more briefly, an effect observed at particle accelerators such as the 3 km long Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). In fact, to an electron traveling down the beam pipe at SLAC, the accelerator and Earth are all moving by and are length contracted. The relativistic effect is so great than the accelerator is only 0.5 m long to the electron. It is actually easier to get the electron beam down the pipe, since the beam does not have to be as precisely aimed to get down a short pipe as it would down one 3 km long. This, again, is an experimental verification of the Special Theory of Relativity.
A particle is traveling through Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of To an Earth-bound observer, the distance it travels is 2.50 km. How far does the particle travel in the particle’s frame of reference?