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T(rule)y Problem (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think it would have to be B due to the laws of relative motion. It was easier for me to think about when I considered the opposite case. Imagine someone is on a vehicle, for example a boat, with one portal on the boat and the other on the shore. You wouldn't expect someone casually walking through the portal on the boat while it's moving to suddenly experience the momentum of the boat after exiting. This is because the person and the portal are both experiencing the same motion.

Going back to the original scenario, the relative motion of the people entering the portal is as fast as the trolly is moving. If there was no portal, they would experience the same force if the trolly ran into them as they would if they ran into a stationary trolly at the same speed.

You have to do funny things with the conservation of momentum when dealing with hypothetical portals because the portals allow you to abruptly change the frame of reference.