Hi Leaking Pen,
I have to admit I cheated and looked ahead to Stephens reply. His reply is far
better than I could ever give. I will reply anyway as maybe I will get
corrected and learn something new...
>Since the magnetic field is em radiation of a sort, think of it like
the classic spaceship with a flashlight scenario (which is the ONLY
thing i have EVER found in physics that i still cannot wrap my mind
against. I understand what it is saying, my brain just refuses to
accept it as accurate)
I don't believe that a magnetic field is itself em radiation. By expanding or
collapsing the magnetic field we can induce EM radiation. I see the magnetic
field as a result of the geometry of space-time itself and that is what I'm
trying to explore.
>if your on a spaceship going .9 c, and you turn on your headlamps, the
light will go forward at, to your appearence, c away from you, as if
you were standing still. Now, someone on the spacestation you're
passing would see you moving at .9 c, and the light moving at c, not
at c away from you PLUS your velocity, but simply c away from you, but
c from their perspective.
>now, this means you each see the light reaching different distances at
the same time, which is where my mind rebels.
>(If i have this incorrect, someone PLEASE correct me, as it hurts my head...)
The basic problem I see here is not recognizing the differing frames of
reference. On the spaceship space and time have been contracted, time is not
moving forward at the same rate as for the person on the spacestation. Also you
are trying to measure distance, but the yard sticks you are using are not the
same length. Further, if you are going to measure how long something takes to
happen, an event, you also need a measure of time, which is also different in
each frame of reference. So you are not using the same yard stick or the same
clock, so it is hard to make comparisons about distance or how long something
takes to happen, or at what time an event has happened from each of the
different frames of reference.
The question I have is, is the lorentz contraction purely a mathmatical
construct, or has the movement of the spaceship at .9c actually modified the
space-time it occupies in such manner that the measurements have been changed?
Can an outside observer on the spacestation determine by any means that
space-time of the spaceship has been contracted? For example, if we observed a
star that the spacecraft was passing in front of, would we experiance a brief
refraction of the light from the star as the spacecraft passed in front of it?
C. Michael Crosiar
