Re: SR examination question

[John Mallinckrodt <ajmallinckro@CSUPOMONA.EDU>]

On Thu, 17 May 2001, Jack Uretsky wrote:

> On Thu, 17 May 2001, John Mallinckrodt wrote:
> Hi all-
>         But John's proper translation would give the same answer to
> the question as my original translation.  So, John, where, in the new
> context, is the ambiguity?

Jack, The ambiguity is that my question (like the original one and
unlike yours) does not specify who should determine how much time
passes on my clock.  A nitpicker would point out that it could be
*any* person.  I am simply pointing to the fact that there is no
way of knowing whether that person rides on the muons or rides on
my detector.

Your question:

> The muon has a lifetime of about 1 microsec (\mu_s).  A beam
> of muons passes through my detector with a speed of 0.9c. What
> lifetime do I measure for the muons?

My question:

> The muon has a lifetime of about 1 microsec (\mu_s).  A beam of
> muons passes through my detector with a speed of 0.9c. During the
> lifetime of a muon, how much time passes on my clock?

John Mallinckrodt      mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona          http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm