Hindu College
B.Sc(H) Physics I Semester (2019-20)
Mechanics Assignment 4 (Special Theory of Relativity)
1. Calculate the momentum of an electron whose velocity is 0.8c.
2. Calculate the Kinetic Energy of an electron whose Kinetic Energy is 2
MeV.
3. Calculate the kinetic energy of an electron whose momentum is 2 MeV/c.
4. Calculate the effective mass of a 5000Ao photon.
5. A particle has a total energy of 6X103 MeV and a momentum of 3X103 MeV/c.
What is its rest mass?
6. If an event A precedes an event B at the same point in one frame of
reference, will A precede B in all other inertial frames? Will they occur at
the same point in any other inertial frame? Will the time interval between
the events be the same in any other inertial frame? Explain?
7. What is the proper time interval between the occurrences of two events
separated in space by 109m, occurring at an interval of 5s in some inertial
frame? What would be the relative speed of the frame w.r.t. the given
frame that would measure the proper time interval?
8. Calculate the expected fringe shift in the Michelson Morley experiment if
the effective length of each path be 6m, velocity of the earth , 3X104 m/s
and the wavelength of the monochromatic light used, 5000Ao .
9. At t=0 observer O emits a photon travelling at speed c in a direction of
0
60o with the x-axis. A second observer, O ,travels with a speed of 0.6c
0
along the common x-x axis. What angle does the photon make with the
0 0
x -axis of O ?
0
10. Suppose that a particle moves relative to O with a constant velocity of
c/2 in the x0 y0 -plane such that its trajectory makes an angle of 60o with
the x0 -axis. If the velocity of O0 with respect to O is 0.6c along the x-x0
axis, find the equations of motion of the particle as determined by O.
11. Pions have a half-life of 1.8X10−8 s. A pion beam leaves an accelerator at
a speed of 0.8c.
1
(a) Calculate the non-relativistic distance over which half the pions should
decay.
(b) Calculate the relativistic distance over which half the pions should
decay.
12. Suppose an observer O determines that two events are separated by 3.6X108 m
and occur 2s apart. What is the proper time interval between the occur-
rence of these two events?
13. The rest lengths of spaceships A and B are 90m and 200m, respectively.
As they travel in opposite directions a pilot in spaceship A determines
that the nose of spaceship B requires 5X10−7 s to traverse the length of
A.
(a) What is the relative velocity of the two spaceships?
(b) What is the time interval , as determined by a pilot in the nose of B,
between passing the front and rear ends of A?
14. A ground observer determines that it takes 5X10−7 s, for a rocket to travel
between two markers in the ground that are 90m apart.
(a) What is the speed of the rocket as determined by the ground ob-
server?
(b) What is the distance between the two markers and the time interval
between passing the two markers as observed by an observer in the
rocket?
15. A man in a rocket ship moving with a speed of 0.6c away from a space
platform shines a light of wavelength 5000 Ao towards the platform.
(a) What is the frequency of the light as seen by an observer on the
platform?
(b) What is the frequency of the light as seen by a passenger in a second
rocket ship that moves in the opposite direction with a speed of 0.8c
relative to the space platform?
