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[Phys-L] Re: relativistic doppler effect (was: The view from the Enterprise.)



This is probably a stupid answer, but here goes...

Time dilation describes the time measured by a single clock, in two different reference frames; length contraction describes the distance between two points at a single time, in two different reference frames. So the two effects are talking about fundamentally different situations, and cannot therefore be combined.

-----Original Message-----
From: Forum for Physics Educators [mailto:PHYS-L@list1.ucc.nau.edu]On
Behalf Of Rick Tarara
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:09 AM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Re: [PHYS-L] relativistic doppler effect (was: The view from
the Enterprise.)


This is probably a 'stupid' questions, but....

The sources I find on the relativistic Doppler effect-- f-observed =
f-source x sqrt [(1+v/c)/(1-v/c)] take into account the Lorentz contraction.
But what about time dilation? Why doesn't that basically cancel the effect
of the contraction leaving the classic Doppler shift?

Rick

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Richard W. Tarara
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Saint Mary's College
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rtarara@saintmarys.edu
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