Re: Simultaneous events experiment


Sylvia Else wrote:
David wrote:

I don't understand how to explain the following experiment using
Einstein's notions of simultaneous events.

I have an ideal laser at x=0,y=0 and a target centered at x=L and y=0.
The target extends in the y and z directions but is always
perpendicular to the x-axis. The laser is pointed at the center of the
target. I fire the laser at the target. After the laser hits the
target, when I bring the target into my lab, I find that a perfect
circle is burned into the target by the laser beam. I reposition the
target at different x coordinates and repeat the experiment. I find
the burn pattern is always a perfect circle, but not necessarily the
same size circle.
I then move the target to x=L and y=D. The target is
perpendicular to the x-axis. I point the laser at the center of the
target. The beam burns a pattern into the target. When I examine the
target in my lab I find that the burn pattern is no longer a perfect
circle. If the target is nomal to the x-axis, for the burn pattern to
be a perfect circle, the target must be on the x-axis as the laser
is.
Now I do an experiment where both the laser and target move with
the same velocity in the Y direction. I find that if the laser fires
when it crosses the x-axis and the target center and the center of the
laser beam both cross the x-axis at the same time as measured in my
inertial frame, the burn pattern on the target remains a circle when
the target is examined in my lab. I find that if the laser and target
cross the x-axis at different times, the burn pattern is no longer a
perfect circle. I realize this is simply the same experiment
performed in a different inertial reference frame.

No it's not the same experiment in a different intertial frame.
Regardless of the frame of the observer, if the target and laser do not
cross the x axis at the same time in their own frame, then the laser
must be rotated in order to get the beam to hit the target, and is not
longer aligned with the x axix. It is this rotation that is ultimately
the cause of the non-circular mark on the target.

Whether or not the laser is aligned with the x axis is something that is
not observer dependent. All observers will agree.

Sylvia.

You are talking to David Seppala, one of the most autistic imbeciles.

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