July 31, 2008
July 30, 2008
July 29, 2008
Q. 1.14 - "Problems in General Physics" by I.E. Irodov
Question: A train of length= 350 m starts moving rectilinearly with constant
acceleration=;= 3 s after the start the locomotive headlight
is switched on (event), and= 60 s after that event the tail signal light is switched
on (event). Find the distance between these event in the reference frames fixed to the train
and to the earth. How and at what constant velocityrelative to the Earth must a certain
reference framemove for the two events to occur in it at the same point.
Answer:
In the reference frame fixed to the train, obviously the distance between the two points is=
350 m.
For the reference frame fixed to earth, lets fix the initial position of headlight as the origin and
the direction of train movement as given by unit-vector
In this reference frame, position of headlight at timeisThis is
the position of event.
After, the position of headlight is
Thus, the position of taillight at timeisThis is
the position of event.
Thus, distance between these two events:
June 20, 2008
Q. 1.13 - "Problems in General Physics" by I.E. Irodov
Answer: Lets consider an arbitrary time when the point A is at a distance of x from point B.
Taking point B’s velocity component along the direction of A velocity, the two
points are coming closer at a speed given by
Integrating this equation,
where τis the required time. This gives:
Also, when the points meet, the two points must have traveled an equal
distance along the direction in which point B travels. Thus,
I.e. the two points will meet after a time given by .