Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 71, Number 5, September 2005
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 699 - 704 | |
Section | General | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2005-10143-x | |
Published online | 27 July 2005 |
Forces due to contraction on a cord spanning between two spaceships
Kraainem, Belgium
Received:
21
February
2005
Accepted:
28
June
2005
A formula is derived estimating the additional tensile forces which a cord must be able to exert to support the Lorentz contraction of itself and of two spaceships, positioned line-ahead, which it spans between, as those ships steadily and identically fire their thrusters. It is found that even a spider's thread of length one metre can exert the forces required to reach half light speed in less than half an hour between ships each weighing a hundred metric tonnes. A critique is also provided of previous published work in this area.
PACS: 03.30.+p – Special relativity
© EDP Sciences, 2005
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