To further pursue a topic from another thread -
Say there is a wheel, traveling in one direction through space very close to the speed of light. It is traveling, relative to an observer, just behind a very very, infinitely, long strip of paper. The strip of paper is positioned so that it covers half of the wheel from the axle down, hence only half of the spokes are visible and the wheel travels so that the observer will only see one half of it for an extended period of time.
Next to the observer is a very bright light source. This light source illuminates the strip of paper and the half of the wheel. But, the wheel is rotating so that it looks lorentz contracted:
So, how many spokes of the wheel does the observer see? How many are illuminated? Is there any reason why there shouldn't be 6 illuminated spokes poking from behind the strip of paper?
Say there is a wheel, traveling in one direction through space very close to the speed of light. It is traveling, relative to an observer, just behind a very very, infinitely, long strip of paper. The strip of paper is positioned so that it covers half of the wheel from the axle down, hence only half of the spokes are visible and the wheel travels so that the observer will only see one half of it for an extended period of time.
Next to the observer is a very bright light source. This light source illuminates the strip of paper and the half of the wheel. But, the wheel is rotating so that it looks lorentz contracted:
So, how many spokes of the wheel does the observer see? How many are illuminated? Is there any reason why there shouldn't be 6 illuminated spokes poking from behind the strip of paper?