Reference Frames

A physics student measures the position of the ball shown in the animation and reports the results to you in the table shown above.   You are viewing the same experiment from another reference frame.  You can read these values next to the ball in the animation.  Assume that your reference frame is an inertial reference frame and that both you and the other student use the same units for time and distance.

Do the following for each of the simulations:

• Determine if the other student is in an inertial reference frame. 
• If the other student is in an inertial reference frame, determine the transformation that transforms the and y data from your frame to her frame.

Challenge exercise:  Determine the transformation between between the two frames if the student is in a noninertial reference frames.

Answers

• Animation 1:   The physics student is in an inertial reference frame.  The transformations are
          x' = x - 2*t  and v' = v - 2.
•  Animation 2:  The physics student is in a noninertial reference frame.
• Animation 3:  The physics student is in an inertial reference frame.  The transformations are
          x' = x +1.0*t  and v' = v +1.