a) You are travelling in a rocket in a totally vacant universe. The rocket is travelling at 100 m.s-1 and accelerates at 10g for 3 minutes. How fast are you travelling at the completion of this time? You are to argue this in a philosophical vein in no more than 150 words. Your words are to be used for a "sound grabs" for a current affairs programme introducing the general public to the special Theory of relativity.
b) The Special Theory of Relativity predicts that a space traveller, travelling at velocities close to the speed of light will experience time passing more slowly than his earth-bound partner. Your task is to draw a space-time diagram depicting the following situation. A twin is sent on a space flight at a velocity of 0.9c for a period of a year while his sibling remains on earth. The date of the launch is 31/12/08 at midnight and his return is exactly one year later. At midnight on June 30th he radios his brother for a mutual birthday chat tells him that he is returning to Earth instantly. Show clearly on your diagram the path of the rocket, the path of the earth and the path or the radio conversation (radio waves are electromagnetic radiation travelling at the speed of light).