Problem 9.3: Which is an inertial frame?


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Two space aliens measure the position of an orange star from different space ships. Alien 1 records data as x1 and alien 2 records data as x2 (position is given in meters and time is given in seconds). You are viewing the same star from an inertial reference frame. Assume that you and the aliens have agreed to use the same distance and time units. You suspect that one of your alien friends is in a noninertial reference frame. Restart.

  1. Which alien is in an inertial reference frame and which alien is in a noninertial frame?
  2. Find the Galilean transformation from your frame into the inertial reference frame.

Physlets were developed at Davidson College and converted from Java to JavaScript using the SwingJS system developed at St. Olaf College.

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