Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Petrie
I'm utterly confused at warp factor five Mr Spock.  |
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTB_an_Owl
and i didn't understand one word you just said Steven
you sure your not into politics rather than astronomy ?
geoff
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Well I suppose politics is the science of BS but not in this case.
Let me give an example.
Particle physicists frequently bombard atoms with unstable nuclei that have very short half lives. If the distance beween the atoms and the source of the bombarding nuclei is too great then most if not all of the nuclei would have decayed before hitting the target.
In the laboratory frame of reference the distance travelled when 50% of the nuclei decay is simply the (speed of the nuclei) X (half life measured in the laboratory).
If however the speed of the nuclei is near the speed of light (say 99%), the half life measured in the laboratory is much greater than the half life of a stationary nuclei due to time dilation. The percentage change for time dilation is the same as percentage shrinkage in distance.
Suppose the distance in the the laboratory frame between the source and the atoms is calculated to be 100 metres. (Without considering the effects of length contraction).
The corresponding distance in the nuclei's frame of reference at 99% speed of light is
100X(1-(0.99)^2)^0.5 = 14 metres.
The distance between the source and the atoms needs to be set at 14 metres for 50% of nuclei to reach their target.
As one gets closer to the speed of light the degree of contraction increases. At the speed of light contraction to zero length would occur (which of course is not possible as matter can't travel at this speed).
Hope this makes sense.
Steven