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physics question
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Author:  kireol [ Jan Thu 29, 2004 1:55 am ]
Post subject:  physics question

I was reading some physics stuff tonight


Mostly Einsteins theory of Specialized Relativity

I'm confused on something. Maybe one of you guys know.....

I ran across this page
http://science.howstuffworks.com/relativity3.htm


Part of that page is this

Quote:
Let's take another trip with the twins, but this time John will travel 12 hours away and 12 hours back, as measured by his clock. Every hour he will send a radio signal to Hunter telling him the hour. A radio signal is just another form of electromagnetic radiation; therefore, it also travels at the speed of light. What do we get as John travels away from Hunter? When John's clock reads "1 hour" he sends the first signal. Because he is moving away from Hunter at 60% of the speed of light, the relativistic Doppler Effect causes Hunter to observe John's transmission to be ½ the source value. From our discussion above, ½ the frequency means the time it takes is twice as long, therefore, Hunter receives the John's "1 hour" signal when his clock reads "2 hours". When John sends his "2 hour" signal, Hunter receives it at hour 4 for him"


Now, I remember learning this in high school, but something isnt adding up for me.



Let's use half the speed of light in my example:

Twin A and Twin B

Both twins are next to eachother

A
B


Twin B travels at 1/2 the speed of light in a direction for 1 hour


A
......................B



Twin B shines a flashlight towards Twin A at that time

shouldnt twin A then see the light from twin Bs flashlight at 1.5 hours? (1 hour from when twin B turned the flashlight on + .5 hours for the light to travel to twin A from twin B


In that authors example twin B is traveling at 60% the speed of light. and the author is saying that it takes the light a whole hour to travel and hit twin A. how did light slow down? is that page just wrong?

Author:  Sledgehammer [ Jan Thu 29, 2004 2:29 am ]
Post subject: 

Easy ....you are looking at both A and B as being static.

If B is "still in motion" at half the speed of light....you have just decreased the speed of the light beam by half.

A perfect real life example of this theory is the train whistle blowing as it is coming towards you. The pitch of the horn is high (compressed/accelerated) and once it passes it changes to a lower pitch. The actual frequency of the horn is when the train is directly in front of you.

Hope that helps.....hard to do in just a short message....but an attempt.

-Signed-
former H.S. Physics Olympian Competitor

Author:  kireol [ Jan Thu 29, 2004 10:10 am ]
Post subject: 

hrmmm. according to the 2nd postlate, light is unaffected by the speed of whatever is shining the light

http://science.howstuffworks.com/relativity2.htm

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