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Date May 2011 Marks available 2 Reference code 11M.3.HL.TZ2.17
Level Higher level Paper Paper 3 Time zone Time zone 2
Command term State Question number 17 Adapted from N/A

Question

This question is about spacetime.

Describe what is meant by spacetime.

[2]
a.

State the shape of the path in spacetime of a body

(i) moving at constant velocity.

(ii) orbiting the Earth.

[2]
b.

Explain how spacetime is used to describe the gravitational attraction between Earth and a satellite orbiting the Earth.

[2]
c.

Markscheme

a coordinate system;
in which time is at right angles to space coordinates / consisting of three dimensions of space and one of time;

a.

(i) straight line;
(ii) curve/circle/ellipse;

b.

(general relativity suggests that) Earth warps spacetime;
the satellite follows shortest path in spacetime which is an orbit about Earth;

c.

Examiners report

[N/A]
a.
[N/A]
b.
[N/A]
c.

Syllabus sections

Option A: Relativity » Option A: Relativity (Core topics) » A.3 – Spacetime diagrams
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