8.Question 8In the "pole in the barn" example done in lecture, how can Bob observe/photograph the front of the pole to be located at the rear door of the barn at 44.4 nanoseconds and the rear of the pole to be located at the front door of the barn at 44.4 nanoseconds (so the entire pole is in the barn), while Alice agrees with Bob's clock readings but never herself observes the pole to be entirely within the barn?1 pointBecause Alice observes Bob's clocks to be unsynchronized, with the rear door photo occurring first and the front door later.Because when Bob synchronized his clocks he forgot to take into account that light travels at a finite speed.Because Bob's crazy.
Question
8.Question 8In the "pole in the barn" example done in lecture, how can Bob observe/photograph the front of the pole to be located at the rear door of the barn at 44.4 nanoseconds and the rear of the pole to be located at the front door of the barn at 44.4 nanoseconds (so the entire pole is in the barn), while Alice agrees with Bob's clock readings but never herself observes the pole to be entirely within the barn?1 pointBecause Alice observes Bob's clocks to be unsynchronized, with the rear door photo occurring first and the front door later.Because when Bob synchronized his clocks he forgot to take into account that light travels at a finite speed.Because Bob's crazy.
Solution
This is a classic example of the relativity of simultaneity in Einstein's special theory of relativity.
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Bob and Alice are in different frames of reference. Bob is stationary with respect to the barn, while Alice is moving with the pole.
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When Bob observes the pole to be entirely within the barn, he is taking a snapshot of the pole at a specific time in his frame of reference. He sees the front of the pole at the rear door of the barn and the rear of the pole at the front door of the barn at the same time (44.4 nanoseconds).
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However, Alice, moving with the pole, has a different frame of reference. Due to the effects of special relativity, she observes events at the front and rear of the pole to occur at different times. This is known as the relativity of simultaneity.
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Therefore, while Alice agrees with Bob's clock readings (as they are both correct in their own frames of reference), she never observes the pole to be entirely within the barn herself. This is because she observes the rear door photo to occur first and the front door photo to occur later, due to her moving frame of reference.
So, the correct answer is "Because Alice observes Bob's clocks to be unsynchronized, with the rear door photo occurring first and the front door later."
Similar Questions
4.Question 4In the "pole in the barn" example done in the video, even though Alice's pole is 10 meters long, and Bob's barn is 8 meters long, Bob thinks that Alice's pole will fit completely inside as she goes through the barn. Why does Alice think Bob is wrong?1 pointAlice observes her pole to increase in length as she travels toward the barn.Alice observes a length contraction effect for the barn, making it even shorter than its rest length of 8 meters.Bob's crazy
9.Question 9In the twin paradox example done in lecture, just after Alice leaves the star on her return trip (and she's back up to her cruising speed of 0.6c), she observes Bob's clock back where he is located. (In other words, she has a photo taken of his clock and her corresponding clock at that location, her clock being part of her lattice of clocks.) Compared to her clock, does she observe Bob's clock to be behind, ahead, or the same time as hers?1 pointBob's clock is behind her clock.Bob's clock is ahead of her clock.Bob's clock has the same time as her clock.
Question 3Consider the twin paradox example done in lecture: On Alice's outbound trip to the star, Bob observes Alice's clocks running slower than his clocks. What does Alice observe regarding Bob's clocks?
9.Question 9Consider two identical light clocks, designed as explained in lecture. Bob has one, and Alice takes the other on her spaceship and flies by Bob at speed V. Bob observes Alice’s clock. What is the relationship between a certain amount of elapsed time on Bob’s clock and the corresponding elapsed time on Alice’s clock, as observed by Bob (where γ represents the Lorentz factor)? 1 pointThe elapsed time on Alice’s clock = γ times the elapsed time on Bob’s clock.The elapsed time on Alice’s clock = (1/γ) times the elapsed time on Bob’s clock.The elapsed time on Alice’s clock = the elapsed time on Bob’s clock.
7.Question 7Consider two identical light clocks, designed as explained in lecture. Bob has one, and Alice takes the other on her spaceship and flies by Bob at speed V. Bob observes Alice’s clock as Alice flies by. Which of the following statements is true?1 pointBob observes Alice’s clock to tick faster than his clock.Bob observes Alice’s clock to tick at the same rate as his clock.Bob observes Alice’s clock to tick slower than his clock.
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