Question

An alien spaceship traveling at 0.600 c toward the Earth launches a landing craft. The landing craft travels in the same direction with a speed of 0.800 c relative to the mother ship. As measured on the Earth, the spaceship is 0.200 ly from the Earth when the landing craft is launched.(b) What is the distance to the Earth at the moment of the landing craft's launch as measured by the aliens?

Answer 1

The distance to the Earth at the moment of the landing craft's launch as measured by the aliens is 0.16 light years.

To find the answer, we have to know about the Lorentz transformation.

What is the distance to the Earth at the moment of the landing craft's launch as measured by the aliens?

It is given that, an alien spaceship traveling at 0.600 c toward the Earth, in the same direction the landing craft travels with a speed of 0.800 c relative to the mother ship. We have to find the distance to the Earth at the moment of the landing craft's launch as measured by the aliens.

• It is given that; the spaceship is 0.200 ly from the Earth when the landing craft is launched.
• By Lorentz transformation equation, the value of the distance to the Earth at the moment of the landing craft's launch as measured by the aliens will be,

        $L=L_0\sqrt{1-\frac{V^2}{c^2} } =0.2ly\sqrt{1-\frac{(0.6c)^2}{c^2} }=0.2ly\sqrt{1-0.36}= 0.16ly$

Thus, we can conclude that, the distance to the Earth at the moment of the landing craft's launch as measured by the aliens is 0.16 light years.

Learn more about the frame of reference here:

brainly.com/question/20897534

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