How does the length of the spaceship change?

Well, from your perspective inside the spaceship, it doesn’t. But the “length monitor” on your control panel shows how your friends back on Earth see things. From their perspective, the faster the ship goes, the shorter it gets! This is known as length contraction .

At everyday speeds, length contraction is negligible—which is why we’re not aware of it. At near-light speed however, the results are dramatic.

Notice that the spaceship contracts only in the direction of its motion.

The curve represents the relationship between the speed of the ship and the length of the ship as observed from Earth. As the ship approaches the speed of light ( c ), the length of the ship approaches zero.

Home | Time | Length | Mass | Fuel | Spaceship   | Thinking Like Einstein

© Exploratorium |   Credits