Garage “Paradox” - continued
Let Sue be at center of car; Joe, at center of garage
At the moment Sue and Joe pass each other, each one sees the front bumper of car as half way to the front door of garage. (see text, p. 120-122)
- Joe sees front bumper at 1/2 (10 ft) = 5 ft
- Sue sees front door at 2 (10 ft) = 20 ft
But each knows this is “old news” because it took light time to reach them. They calculate:
- Joe: Bumper must now be at 5 ft + 0.6 ft/ns x 5 ns = 5 + 3 = 8 ft
- Sue: Door must now be at 20 ft - 0.6 ft/ns x 20 ns = 20 -12 = 8 ft
Sue and Joe agree, but Sue says door must be open, Joe says door is still closed.
They disagree on the time the door opens.
There is no paradox. Both are right!