I was thinking about the relativistic example of the scientist in a box. He feels an acceleration equal to the force of gravity, and is unable to determine if he is at rest on earth, or accelerating at 32 ft/sec squared through space (assume there are no windows in his box). Wouldn't a simple wrist-watch be a device that would answer this for him? I'm assuming that if you accelerated long enough, you would eventually reach the speed of light. So if you waited long enough with no apparent change in your acceleration, you might prove that you are at rest on Earth. Unless you could accelerate in one direction (i.e. not in an orbit) forever and somehow never reach the speed of light (is that theoretically possible?). Also, if gravitons are ever discovered, how would that change the scenario? Could you determine the presence of a large gravitational body like the Earth, or would acceleration itself produce gravitons?
2006-12-17
17:41:45
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7 answers
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asked by
Billy
1