• DOI:10.1088/0143-0807/31/2/006
Corpus ID: 18059490

Lorentz contraction, Bell’s spaceships and rigid body motion in special relativity

@article{Franklin2010LorentzCB,
  title={Lorentz contraction, Bell’s spaceships and rigid body motion in special relativity},
  author={J. Franklin},
  journal={European Journal of Physics},
  year={2010},
  volume={31},
  pages={291-298}
}

• J. Franklin
• Published 2010
• Physics
• European Journal of Physics

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The meaning of Lorentz contraction in special relativity and its connection with Bell's spaceships parable is discussed. The motion of Bell's spaceships is then compared with the accelerated motion of a rigid body. We have tried to write this in a simple form that could be used to correct students' misconceptions due to conflicting earlier treatments.