In a classroom on the first spaceship to an extrasolar planet--there are children because the trip will take 200 years--a teacher is showing charge Q uniformly distributed along a conducting rod of length L₀ to produce linear charge density $\lambda$₀.As observed on Pluto when the spaceship passes it at 0.800 c,the linear charge density $\lambda ^ { \prime }$ is A)0.360 $\lambda$₀. B)0.600 $\lambda$₀. C)0.800 $\lambda$₀. D)1.00 $\lambda$₀. E)1.67 $\lambda$₀.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The linear charge density $\lambda ^ { \prime }$ is affected by length contraction due to relativistic effects. The length of the rod as observed from Pluto is contracted by a factor of $\sqrt{1 - v^2/c^2}$, where $v = 0.800c$. This increases the linear charge density by a factor of $1/\sqrt{1 - (0.800)^2}$, which is approximately 1.67.

In a Classroom on the First Spaceship to an Extrasolar λ\lambdaλ

In a Classroom on the First Spaceship to an Extrasolar $\lambda$