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Length Contraction: Instructor's Guide
Main Ideas
- Length contraction is just the result of different observers making different measurements.
- Spacetime diagrams can be calibrated using hyperbolas.
Students' Task
Estimated Time: 30 minutes, including wrap-up
Students should be asked to answer the following questions on their whiteboards:
Draw a diagram showing a meter stick on a moving train.
Draw a diagram showing a meter stick at rest.
Calibrate these diagrams using unit hyperbola.
Prerequisite Knowledge
Basics of hyperbola geometry.
Props/Equipment
- Small whiteboards with markers
Wrap-Up
- Ask several students to present/defend their responses.
- Construct right triangles with unit hypotenuse in both reference frames, emphsasizing the location of the right angle.