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 Incoming links: Ladder paradox

Past exam of the physics 1 paper of the University of Oxford / 2013 / 10 / b / Solution 2026-10-25

The berth moves at

0.85 c

in the ship's initial rest frame, so it too is subject to length contraction:

L_{b}^{'} = \frac{L _{b}}{γ _{s}} = 100 (1 - 0.8 5^{2}) + 4 1 - 0.8 5^{2} ≃ 29.8571 m .

The ship remains

100 m

long in this frame. The two length comparisons use different simultaneous endpoint events; this is the same relativity of simultaneity that resolves the ladder paradox. Physical docking also requires deceleration, whose later effects are outside these initial inertial measurements.

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