Pole and Barn Paradox
Pole and Barn Paradox
This Demonstration shows spacetime diagrams and illustrations for the pole and barn paradox. Flashes are set to go off as soon as the right edge of the pole is inside the rightmost edge of the barn. In the barn's frame, the pole is shorter than the barn, and both sides of the pole are within the barn when the flashes go off. In the pole's frame, the barn is shorter than the pole, and when the edge of the pole reaches the rightmost edge of the barn, only one flash goes off—the next appears to come at a later time, after the back edge has entered the barn.