In relativity theory, the length of an object, say a rocket, appears to an observer to depend on the speed at which the object is traveling with respect to the observer. If the observer measures the rocket’s length as L₀ at rest, then at speed v the length will appear to be

This equation is the Lorentz contraction formula. Here, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, about 3 * 10⁸ m/sec. What happens to L as v increases? Find lim_v→c- L. Why was the left-hand limit needed?

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L = Lo = Lov ช