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all rights reserved 2002
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Experiment --> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Experiment 8 Mr.
Einstein is on a railroad car moving to the left with velocity v, and on his car
are two light bulbs that, from his perspective, come on simultaneously. To
confirm this, he could also rig some sort of detector that would go off only if
both beams of light arrive at his position simultaneously.
Answer:
She will agree that both beams of light reach Mr. Einstein at the same time.
However, since from her point of view the light on the right has greater
distance to travel, she will see the light on the right come on first! Conclusion: From
the above experiments we see that events which may be simultaneous for one
observer can happen in a different sequence for another observer. This leads us
to the startling conclusion that there is no such thing as a universal
"now" for which everyone will agree on what happens "now".
That is, I can see two events as happening "now" while another
observer will see one event happening "now" with the other event yet
to occur! |