In: Physics
The formula for length contraction gives the length of an interval on a ruler moving with velocity v relative to an observer as where L is the length of the same interval on a ruler at rest with respect to the observer. By what fraction is the length of a meter stick reduced if its velocity relative to you is measured to be 87 percent of the speed of light?
The formula for the length contraction is given by
Where c is speed of light, v is speed of object with respect to the observer. L is contracted length of object and L0 is proper length of object.
For the given problem,
v = 0.87c
Therefore,
or,
If the velocity of the object is 87 percent of speed of light then the length of the meter stick will be 49 percent of its proper length.