Problems on the Twin Paradox
Problem 2.1:
A spacecraft travels at
0.99c to a star
3.787×1013 kilometers away. How long will a
roundtrip to this star take from the point of view of someone on the earth?
[Solution]
Problem 2.2:
With reference to the previous problem, how long will the roundtrip take for someone in the spaceship,
according to someone measuring from the earth?
[Solution]
Problem 2.3:
Now in the reference frame of someone in the
spaceship, what is the time taken for the roundtrip
as observed by a passenger, and by someone on earth (ignoring the times when the spaceship is accelerating
or decelerating).
[Solution]
Problem 2.4:
If one person stays on earth and one person travels to the distant star, who will age more during the trip and
by what amount?
[Solution]
Problem 2.5:
Twin A floats freely in outer space. Twin B flies past in a spaceship at speed
v0. Just as they pass each
other they both start timers at
t = 0. At the instant of passing B also turns on his engines so as to
decelerate at
g. This causes B to slow down and eventually to stop and accelerate back towards A so that
when the twins pass each other again B is traveling at speed
v0 again. If they compare their clocks, who
is younger?
[Solution]
