Q1. A 27 pound meteorite struck the car, leaving a dent 24 cm deep in the trunk. If the meteorite struck the car with a speed of 440 m/s, what was the magnitude of its deceleration, assuming it to be constant?
Q2. Assume intelligent life is discovered on a planet orbiting a star 5 light years away from the sun. After many years of communication and planning, an exchange program is arranged thusly:
Interstellar spaceships will be launched simultaneously from each planet toward the other. Both spaceships will travel at v/c=0.60 towards the other planet. To avoid the accidental head on collision, each spaceship will flash an omni directional light beacon at a rate of 10^-6 years (about once every 30 seconds) as measured in the spaceship's IRF. The beacon would be turned on immediately after launch.
Neatly sketch a Minkowski Diagram for this situation. Label all events and axes.