A cosmic ray travels 60km through the earth’s atmosphere in 400μs as measured by experimenters on the ground. How long does the journey take according to the cosmic ray?

Short Answer

Expert verified

τ=346μs

Step by step solution

01

Given Information

We have given that, A cosmic ray travels 60kmthrough the earth’s atmosphere in 400μs,as measured by experimenters on the ground.

02

Simply

The cosmic ray enters the atmosphere and the cosmic ray hits the ground are two separate events.

In the cosmic ray's frame, frameS'these can both be measured with a single clock. As a result, in S'the proper time interval localid="1649596902268" t'=τexists between them. The time interval measured in the Earth's frame S,is t=400μs.

The following is the outcome of time dilation:

τ=1-β2t

The cosmic ray's speed in frame Sis simply:

v=Ltv=600004.00×10-6v=1.5×108m/s

From previous, we have to find value for β:

β=vcβ=1.5×108m/s3×108m/sβ=0.5

Thus, the time interval measured by cosmic ray is:

τ=1-(0.5)2(400μs)τ=346μs

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