MadSci Network: Physics |
No. Imagine moving towards a laser. The waves get squished together as each time you move closer, they take less long to reach you - blue shift. Because you are moving towards the ceiling at the same speed as it moves away from you (I assume that you - or a camera - are in the elevator), the red shift is exactly cancelled by a blue shift as you move towards it. In other words, the ceiling is NOT moving relative to the observer. In fact, there is no such thing as absolute speed. If you were in a space shuttle with no windows, there would be absolutely no way to tell what speed you were moving at - the principle of relativity. Some interesting features result from this theory: The Galilean principle of relativity says that it is not possible to determine an 'absolute' velocity. That is, if you are in a space-craft with no windows moving at a constant speed, you would have no idea what speed you were moving at. Newton's laws obey this principle. The problem came with the development of Maxwell's laws of electromagnetism (in 1865). These showed a finite speed of light, c (= 300,000,000 metres per second). This, together with Newton's laws, would imply that a car moving at speed u would see light to go at a speed c-u, and thus, by the speed of light in your window-less space rocket, you could determine your speed. However, experiments showed that this was not the case. Consider the following thought experiment, but when describing it, let us assume that the principle of relativity holds. That is, the speed of light is the same for all observers. MIRROR _____ C___________________ /\ | / \ | - Height L / \ | LIGHT / \ |_ SOURCE: A B: DETECTOR Length AB=d, Length AC=h. Speed of light=c If I was stationary (with respect to the apparatus) and watching this experiment, you would see the light to move a distance of 2h between A and B. Therefore, the time taken 9from my point of view) must be t=2h/c. But what if you were moving in the direction AB at speed v, such that you are at A when the light leaves A, and at B when the light reaches B. To you, the experiment would look like this: _____C_____ | | | | A,B So, you see the light to move a distance of 2L. So your time must be t'=2L/c. But from the Pythagorean theorem, (d/2)^2+(L)^2=(h)^2. BUT, t=2h/c => h=ct/2; t'=2L/c => L=ct'/2. And (from my point of view), you were moving at speed v, and covered the distance d in time t, therefore d=vt. So, (d/2)^2+(L)^2=(h)^2 => (vt/2)^2+(ct'/2)^2=(ct/2)^2 => (c^2-v^2)(t^2)=(ct')^2 => t=1/[[1-(v/c)^2]^.5] (I couldn't find the square-root or squared signs, ^2 means squared and ^.5 means square-rooted). This is the Lorentz transformation for time. It was developed so that Maxwell's laws remained unchanged when worked out for a moving observer, i.e. so that the speed of light appears the same to all observers. Mass, and distance, are also transformed in the same way, yielding results that quite a few people have heard of, e.g. E=m(c^2). Let's try out this formula on a problem: Imagine that an astronaut goes off at 0.8c, relative to the Earth, and returns after 30 years have elapsed on the rocket. We have v=0.8c, and t'=30 years. Therefore, t= 30/[[1-(0.8)^2]^.5] = 30/[1-0.64]^.5 =30/0.6 = 50 years have gone by on Earth! Just so that you cannot tell your speed in a windowless space shuttle, we have to let time be dilated, distances shrink, and mass be equivalent to energy! Special relativity is quite difficult to get your head round (it made Einstein's hair stand on end). I reccommend the following books: 'Introducing Einstein' (formerly 'Einstein for Beginners') by Joseph Scwarz and Michael McGuiness. 'Six Not-So-Easy Pieces,' a collection of Feynman's brilliant lectures. 'E=mc^2, an Equation That Changed the World' (I can't remember who it's by, but it is very good).
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