A stationary observer Bob, observes Alice take 5 seconds to travel from point A to B at 0.95c. How much time does Alice measure the journey from A to B to take?

This question is all about the application of Special Relativity. In order to solve this problem we need to identify that the correct equation to use here is:t= (gamma factor)t0Where t is the time observed by Bob, t0 is the time observed by Alice and the gamma factor = 1/Sqrt(1-(v2/c2)We need to rearrange the equation for t0, giving t0=t/(gamma factor) t0= t(Sqrt(1-(v2/c2))Subsituting t =5 s, v = 0.95c, we obtain:t0=(5 s)(Sqrt(1-0.952))t0 = 1.56 s

ER
Answered by Elizabeth R. Physics tutor

3381 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

State what is meant by a Doppler shift and describe how it was used to study the movement of galaxies.


Where does the formula for gravitational potential come from? Why the minus sign?


If the highest frequency a song is 10 kHz and it is encoded at 16 bits per sample what is the minimum number of bytes needed to encode the 3 minute song?


How many joules of heat energy are required to raise the temperature of 10kg of water from 22⁰C to 27⁰C? (The Specific Heat Capacity of water is 4200 Jkg^-1⁰C^-1)


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning