A ruler is positioned perpendicular to a wall. A stick of length L flies by at speed v. It travels in front of the ruler, so that it obscures part of the ruler from your view. When the stick hits the wall it stops. In your reference frame, the stick is shorter than L. Therefore, right before it hits the wall, you will be able to see a mark on the ruler that is less than L units from the wall (see Figure). But in the stick??s frame, the marks on the ruler are closer together. Therefore, when the wall hits the stick, the closest mark to the wall that you can see on the ruler is greater than L units (see Figure). Which view is correct (and what is wrong with the incorrectone)?

Transcribed Image Text:

stick ruler (lab frame) ++++++ (stick frame)