Suppose you see a spaceship with a clock on it hurtling past you at 80% of the speed of light.As it goes by,the second hand on the ship's clock ticks off five seconds.How much time elapsed on your clock during this occurrence?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to special relativity, time is relative to the observer's frame of reference. In this case, the spaceship is moving at 80% of the speed of light relative to the observer. This means that time on the spaceship will appear to be slower to the observer than time on their own clock. This phenomenon is known as time dilation. As a result, more than 5 seconds would have elapsed on the observer's clock during the 5 seconds observed on the spaceship's clock. The exact amount of time elapsed can be calculated using the time dilation equation: 
t' = t / sqrt(1 - v^2/c^2)
where t' is the time elapsed on the observer's clock, t is the time elapsed on the spaceship's clock, v is the velocity of the spaceship, and c is the speed of light. Plugging in the given values:
t' = 5 / sqrt(1 - 0.8^2) 
t' = 8.66 seconds (approximately) 
Therefore, the correct choice is C) more than 5 seconds.

Suppose You See a Spaceship with a Clock on It