Journal of Physics Special Topics An undergraduate physics journal

A5 1 Super Sonic (the Hedgehog)

R. Howe, R. Javaid, M.J. Pitts, F.R.J. Scanlan Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH October 31, 2017

Abstract In the popular game franchise Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic has several powers. He can move at the speed of sound, and is able to transform into Super Sonic- a gold version of himself who can move close to the speed of light [1]. In this paper we use the equations of relativity to theorise what would happen if Super Sonic was running towards, and then past a stationary observer. We find he would have to travel between 0.1400 c and 0.2633 c to be seen as golden, and would appear to be between 2.7107 m and 2.703 m shorter due to length contraction. Due to time dilation he would also experience between 1.010 s and 1.037 s of time for every second an observer experiences.

Introduction if ’Super Sonic’ existed in real life, and how he When an object is moving close to the speed would look to a stationary observer. of light, the wavelength (λ) of light it emits Theory changes. If said object is moving away from a When speeds close to the speed of light are stationary observer its wavelength gets longer- a achieved it is no longer accurate to use non- phenomenon known as the Doppler Effect. Con- relativistic physics. At speeds where v <theory of relativity) and We also require the Lorentz factor, γ, which 1 p 2 length contraction (an apparent shortening of a is defined by γ = 1 − (β) . This is used to relativistic object from the perspective of an ob- calculate time dilation and length contraction: server) of Sonic as he moves at these velocities. 0 l0 We present a description of what would occur t=γ t and l= γ (3) where t’ and l’ represent the ’proper time’ and ultraviolet light. Time would be moving slower ’proper length’ of an object’s reference frame- for him and he would appear thinner. Once mov- in this case Sonic’s. By calculating the Lorentz ing away from the observer Sonic would appear factors for Sonic’s range of velocities we are able yellow as his ’Super’ form states, and his time to calculate t and l, which is the time and length and length contraction would stay the same. experienced in a stationary observer’s reference Conclusion frame [4]. We have shown the circumstances required for Results Sonic to enter his ’Super Sonic’ form due to Due to the nature of the wavelengths of visi- Doppler shift. We can conclude that Sonic would ble light, a range of results was obtained. The only turn yellow when moving close to the speed wavelength of blue light is 450.0 nm - 495.0 nm, of light away from a stationary observer. There- and the wavelength of yellow light is 570.0 nm - fore when he turns ’Super’ it must be due to 590.0 nm [5]. For Sonic to be moving fast enough something other than relativistic effects, other- to Doppler shift between these wavelengths, the wise the game would be rendered unplayable. largest and smallest differences were taken and Further Work substituted into Equation (2) to get a veloc- Objects moving fast enough past a stationary 6 −1 ity range between -42.05 ×10 ms and -79.33 observer with a single side facing them will be 6 −1 ×10 ms , or 0.1400 c and 0.2633 c. The ve- seen as 3D instead of 2D. This is due to the time locities were negative due to Sonic moving away difference between light moving to an observer from the observer. from the object’s closest and furthest sides [6]. The modulus of these values were taken and Further work could be done to quantify this 3D substituted into Equation (1) to obtain the ob- effect related to Sonic, and to see whether 2D served wavelengths as Sonic moves towards the Sonic would actually appear 3D as he ran past observer. It was found that his observed wave- at Super speeds. length would range between 343.2 nm and 429.9 References nm, meaning he would emit in both the violet and ultraviolet range. [1] http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Super_ Sonic [Access 1 Oct 2017] The Lorentz factors for both directions (to- wards and away) were found to be 1.010 and [2] Tipler, P. and Mosca, G. (2008). Physics for 1.037, which were then used to calculate time scientists and engineers. New York: W.H. dilation and length contraction. (These quanti- Freeman. [Accessed 3 Oct 2017] ties are not dependant on direction due to the v2 [3] http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu. term in the equation for Lorentz factor.) edu/hbase/Relativ/reldop2.html [Ac- For every second of time passing in Sonic’s ref- cessed 14 Oct 2017] erence frame a range of 1.010 s to 1.037 s would pass for an observer, and assuming his width is [4] http://www.physicsclassroom.com/ 0.300 m he would appear to have a length be- mmedia/specrel/lc.cfm [Accessed 3 Oct tween 0.2893 m and 0.2970 m. 2017] Discussion [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ From these results we can theorise what would Visible_spectrum [Accessed 2 Oct 2017] be seen if a stationary observer watched ’Super [6] http://www.spacetimetravel.org/ Sonic’ run towards and past them at the calcu- tompkins/node1.html [Accessed 3 Oct lated velocities. Whilst running towards them, 2017] Sonic would appear violet, while also emitting