What is the Lorentz factor for a spaceship traveling at 0.5c?
1/sqrt (1-b^2)
where b = v/c and here is 0.5
1/sqrt(1-.25)
1/sqrt(.75)
1.15
thank you
To calculate the Lorentz factor for a spaceship traveling at a given speed, we need to use the equation:
γ = 1 / √(1 - (v²/c²))
where γ is the Lorentz factor, v is the velocity of the spaceship, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum (approximately 299,792,458 meters per second).
In this case, the spaceship is traveling at 0.5c, which means the velocity v is half the speed of light. So we substitute v = 0.5c into the equation:
γ = 1 / √(1 - (0.5c)²/c²)
= 1 / √(1 - 0.25)
= 1 / √(0.75)
≈ 1 / 0.866
≈ 1.155
Therefore, the Lorentz factor for a spaceship traveling at 0.5c is approximately 1.155.