Bauer/Westfall: University Physics, 2E

Exercises Bauer's Mod-Phy 2e

35.27. The speed of light converted from SI to ft/ns is:
 1 s  3.2808 ft 
c =2.9979 ⋅ 108 m/s =2.9979 ⋅ 108 m/s  9   =0.984 ft/ns.
 10 ns  1 m 
You can see that our result is quite close to 1 foot per nanosecond, which makes this a great way to
visualize the speed of light: light moves about a foot in a time interval of a billionth of a second!

35.28. Convert the acceleration due to gravity from SI units into units of ly/year 2 .
 365.25 days  24 hours   3600 s 
1=
year 1 year    =  3.1556 ⋅ 10 s
7

 1 year  1 day   1 hour 

2
 1 ly   3.1556 ⋅ 107 s 
= =
g 9.81 m/s  
2
 1.03 ly/year
2

 9.461 ⋅ 10 m  
15
1 year 
Just as in Exercise 35.28, the numerical coefficient comes out to be very close to 1. However, unlike the
answer in 35.28, the answer to the present problem is more of a curiosity than a useful number for any
practical purposes.
35.29. The boat has a velocity of v with respect to the water. The velocity of the water is u downstream. So in
order for the boat to directly cross the river, the boat must be headed upstream at an angle such that the
velocity of the boat with respect to the ground is v 2 − u 2 . The cross-stream time across the river of
width D with this velocity is
2D
t cs = .
v 2 − u2
Going upstream, the boat has velocity v − u, and going downstream it is v + u. Over a distance D, the
upstream-downstream time is:
D D D (v + u ) + D (v − u ) 2Dv
t ud = + = = 2 .
v −u v +u ( v − u )( v + u ) v − u2
t 2D / v 2 − u 2 v 2 − u2
=
The ratio of times is then: cs = .
(
t ud 2Dv / v 2 − u 2 ) v

35.30. For v = 0.800c,

1 1
=γ = = 1.6667.
1 − (v / c ) 1 − ( 0.800 )
2 2

For three significant figures, we have γ = 1.67.

35.31. (a) Another astronaut on the ship sees the meter stick in the same (rest) frame as the astronaut holding
the stick and so its length remains unchanged at one meter.
(b) For a ship moving at v = 0.50c, the length of the meter stick as measured by an observer on Earth is
L0
L0 1 − ( v / c ) =(1.00 m ) 1 − ( 0.50c / c ) =
2 2
L == 0.87 m.
γ
35.32. (a) According to a clock on Earth the trip takes

∆t=
L0
=
(
3.84 ⋅ 108 m
= 2.6 s.
)
(
v 0.50 3.00 ⋅ 108 m/s )

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