Chapter 2: Q67E (page 67)
Using equations (2-20), show that
Short Answer
The required equation is obtained.
Chapter 2: Q67E (page 67)
Using equations (2-20), show that
The required equation is obtained.
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Get started for freeA projectile is a distance r from the center of a heavenly body and is heading directly away. Classically, if the sum of its kinetic and potential energies is positive, it will escape the gravitational pull of the body, but if negative, it cannot escape. Now imagine that the projectile is a pulse of light energy E. Since light has no internal energy ,E is also the kinetic energy of the light pulse. Suppose that the gravitational potential energy of the light pulse is given by Newton’s classical formula U=-(GMm/r), where M is the mass of the heavenly body and m is an “effective mass” of the light pulse. Assume that this effective mass is given by .
Show that the critical radius for which light could not escape the gravitational pull of a heavenly body is within a factor of 2 of the Schwarzschild radius given in the chapter. (This kind of “semiclassical” approach to general relativity is sometimes useful but always vague. To be reliable, predictions must be based from beginning to end on the logical, but unfortunately complex, fundamental equations of general relativity.)
Explain to your friend, who is willing to accept that light moves at the same speed in any frame, why clocks on a passing train are not synchronized. If it helps, assume that Anna is at the middle of the train.
Exercise 117 Gives the speed u of an object accelerated under a constant force. Show that the distance it travels is given by.
For reasons having to do with quantum mechanics. a given kind of atom can emit only certain wavelengths of light. These spectral lines serve as a " fingerprint." For instance, hydrogen's only visible spectral lines are and . If spectra/ lines were ofabsolutely precise wavelength. they would be very difficult to discern. Fortunately, two factors broaden them: the uncertainty principle (discussed in Chapter 4) and Doppler broadening. Atoms in a gas are in motion, so some light will arrive that was emitted by atoms moving toward the observer and some from atoms moving away. Thus. the light reaching the observer will Cover a range ofwavelengths. (a) Making the assumption that atoms move no foster than their rms speed-given by , where is the Boltzmann constant. Obtain a formula for the range of wavelengths in terms of the wavelength of the spectral line, the atomic mass , and the temperature. (Note: .) (b) Evaluate this range for the hydrogen spectral line, assuming a temperature of .
In Example 2.5, we noted that Anna could go wherever she wished in as little time as desired by going fast enough to length-contract the distance to an arbitrarily small value. This overlooks a physiological limitation. Accelerations greater than about 30g are fatal, and there are serious concerns about the effects of prolonged accelerations greater than 1g. Here we see how far a person could go under a constant acceleration of 1g, producing a comfortable artificial gravity.
(a) Though traveller Anna accelerates, Bob, being on near-inertial Earth, is a reliable observer and will see less time go by on Anna's clock (dt') than on his own (dt). Thus,, whereuis Anna's instantaneous speed relative to Bob. Using the result of Exercise 117(c), withgreplacingF/m, substitute for u, then integrate to show that
(b) How much time goes by for observers on Earth as they “see” Anna age 20 years?
(c) Using the result of Exercise 119, show that when Anna has aged a timet’, she is a distance from Earth (according to Earth observers) of
(d) If Anna accelerates away from Earth while aging 20 years and then slows to a stop while aging another 20. How far away from Earth will she end up and how much time will have passed on Earth?
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