Re: mass increase due to speed

Dear padremo:

padremo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 18:42:04 -0700, "N:dlzc D:aol T:com \(dlzc\)" <N:
dlzc1 D:cox T:net@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
....
Let's make this easier. Let's say you are observing the Moon
orbiting the Earth as you fly by at 0.99c. Will the Earth-Moon
system curve your path more or less than it would at 0.0001c?
Will the Moon suddenly fall into the Earth, will its period
suddenly alter beyond what your gamma accounts for?

Another thought then (which is probably wrong!): If, as you
approach the speed of light,

How would you know?

it takes exponentially more energy to accelerate, wouldn't /this/
be a way of telling if you were stationary or moving (to an ether).

No. No process internal to the ship can tell you how fast *someone
else* measures you moving. You could make measurements at 1 G, just a
few seconds after achieving it, and again a million years later. Same
results for processes internal to your ship.

Couldn't you add a set amount of energy to the ship (via
engines) and see how much it accelerates by? If you were
'still' the ship should accelerate by a maximum amount. If
you were going close to light speed, would the resultant
acceleration applying the same energy be a lot lower?

No. Time dilation and length contraction will affect your "impulse".

So if you measured a maximum acceleration, you'd know that
you were stationary and ship b was 'moving' (and if ship b did
the same experiment at the same time their acceleration would
be less than a).

Nature will not let us look up her skirt in this way. We are required
to use our imaginations. Would you really want it any other way?

David A. Smith

.

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