2. A flat, horizontal pan of dough speeds under a circular cookie cutter at a ve

Question

2. A flat, horizontal pan of dough speeds under a circular cookie cutter at a

velocity near c. A baker, holding the cutter perfectly horizontally, stamps the

dough with lightning speed. (Assume he raises the cutter again so quickly that

nothing gets squashed or stuck in the cutter.) The resulting cookie will not be

circular, but elliptical. (By the shape of a cookie, one means, of course, its

shape in its proper frame.) Is it longer in the direction of its motion or the

perpendicular direction? Justify this in the frame of the baker and in the frame

of the dough.

Explanation / Answer

In the direction of motion, due to the travel at near light speed, the cookie will appear smaller in the direction of motion. That means that the cookie will look longer in the direction perpendicular to the direction of motion.

The longer direction is it the direction perpendicular to the direction of motion.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse 2
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.