• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

Simultaneity question (2 Viewers)

klee98

Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
Messages
84
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
Let me ask something else:
In the train video near the top of this page, we see that in the reference frame of the man on the platform:
1. The events are simultaneous for the man
2. The events are NOT simultaneous for the woman.
In this whole train scenario, your looking as a third person spectacle. And in the reference frame of the man on the platform, he will experience the event as simultaneous. He however can't experience the event experienced by the woman on the train.

Could you take a picture of the passage that mentions this?
 

porcupinetree

not actually a porcupine
Joined
Dec 12, 2014
Messages
664
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
In this whole train scenario, your looking as a third person spectacle. And in the reference frame of the man on the platform, he will experience the event as simultaneous. He however can't experience the event experienced by the woman on the train.

Could you take a picture of the passage that mentions this?
I was simply saying that he will predict that the woman experiences the events as not simultaneous. From his perspective, the light from the front of the train will reach her before the light from the back of the train.
However, logic tells me (and Excel HSC Physics) that the woman's perspective is just like the man's but reversed, ie she experiences the events as simultaneous but she predicts that the man on the platform sees them as not simultaneous:

In the 2nd column: https://imgur.com/6CCmSOh

Another question that links in to the idea is: does it matter whether the lightning flashes/match strikes/whatever occur within the train? If so, then why? I can't see why it would matter, as the speed of light is constant whether the source is from within the train or not.
 

InteGrand

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
6,109
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
I was simply saying that he will predict that the woman experiences the events as not simultaneous. From his perspective, the light from the front of the train will reach her before the light from the back of the train.
However, logic tells me (and Excel HSC Physics) that the woman's perspective is just like the man's but reversed, ie she experiences the events as simultaneous but she predicts that the man on the platform sees them as not simultaneous:

In the 2nd column: https://imgur.com/6CCmSOh

Another question that links in to the idea is: does it matter whether the lightning flashes/match strikes/whatever occur within the train? If so, then why? I can't see why it would matter, as the speed of light is constant whether the source is from within the train or not.
But if the person on the platform is good at physics, wouldn't she be able to tell that it's only from her viewpoint that the man in the train sees them as non-simultaneous, and that in the man's reference frame, he'll see the matches as simultaneous?
 

porcupinetree

not actually a porcupine
Joined
Dec 12, 2014
Messages
664
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ No idea. lol. I don't understand what your trying to get at. Did you read the explanations above... Cause i did answer your lightning question (are you implying lightning somehow comes from inside the train? what?). Also explain this "logic" you used, cause this is a thought experiment, it's not supposed to be realistic.
I think it's just taking me a while to understand it lol...I'm confident that I understand it better now which is good, so thanks for your help :headbang:
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)

Top