Acourding to Einsteins theory of relativity, as you aproch the speed of light time slows down and when you reach the speed of light time stops. So accourding to Einsteins theory it would seem that time travels at the speed of light traveling in all directions at the same time, and when you approach the speed of light you are accualy also aproaching hte speed of time. Sort of like three cars; lets say car A is light Car B is Time and car C is a ship. Car a and b are going 60 as we reach 60 miles per hour in car c it would seem as car a and b were at a stop, in essence it would apear that time was at a stand still. Is this correct?
2006-07-10 13:02:09 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Ok lets say cars a and b are endless trains scince light would more resemble a endless train, and the paint at which you left could be represented as a section of the train
2006-07-10 13:54:14 · update #1
Very good! Apparently in general relativity everything "travels" at the same rate through spacetime (relative to all reference frames). When more of the "motion" is in the spatial dimensions, the "speed" in the temporal dimension slows down. When motion in the spatial dimensions is zero, the rate of passage of time is maximized. Of course you have to keep in mind that only *relative* motion is important, because there is no absolute frame of reference.
I haven't had a full graduate level course in general relativity yet, but I have read this at some point. It seems to be related to the invariant interval or some other invariant tensor quantity. If you do some creative searching online you may be able to find more.
error from below: "So if you travel at the speed of light for 20 years and return to the same spot on earth, 0 amount of time will have passed on earth but you will be 20 years older." First of all you can't travel at the speed of light relative to the Earth onless you're massless. Secondly, if you travel at near the speed of light away from Earth and then return at nearly the speed of light, you will have aged *less* than the people on the Earth. More time will have passed on Earth....this is the "twin paradox" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_paradox which is discussed in every special relativity course. The key here is that in order to return to Earth, you must accelerate and therefore enter a non-inertial frame of reference. (non-inertial refrence frames are the topic of general relativity)
update: I checked, and found this which verifies my comments above http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/Stefan_Waner/diff_geom/Sec11.html
2006-07-10 13:26:26 · answer #1 · answered by idiuss 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let's say you leave the Earth going to say Alpha Centauri for the sake of argument. As you reach relativistic speeds you will notice no difference in the way time passes. To you the journey make take 10 years or so, but to everyone on Earth 1000 years or more has passed. By the time you return from your journey everything you ever knew will be gone.
Now, the speed of light seems to be the "speed limit" for the universe. Keep in mind that as you increase velocity you also increase mass, so you cannot travel exactly at the speed of light because you cannot have infinite mass.
I hope this has clarified it a bit but I'm pretty sure it has raised more questions than answers.
2006-07-10 20:09:32 · answer #2 · answered by synchronicity915 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a very interesting way to illustrate the problem of relativity, Polohunter. However, Cars A and B and the ship may approach the speed of light, perhaps within 90% with a great deal of effort, but having mass can not reach the speed of light. Only photons without mass travel at the speed of light, c, which is a constant and therefore they do not approach the speed of light. Perhaps you can restate your explanation in terms of what "drivers" in the cars and ship would observe on their clocks and speedometers (relative to what observers on earth are observing?). Keep trying. Good luck.
2006-07-10 20:14:55 · answer #3 · answered by Kes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, since you as car C achieved 60 mph, car A and B wouldn't stop, but moving right at your side.You would still have the illusion that you are moving though. and if you have einsteins theory correct, then yes Time would seem like its at a stand still yet, you and Time would still be moving. which is quite confusing.
Oh, and something just hit my mind. If einstiens theory were to be correct, wouldn't tha mean the time travel is possible? but only to the future?
see, right now, time is moving past you. if you move at hte speed of light, time is still and so are you, if you WERE to move faster than time. That would mean that you were going past time making you into the future instead of the past which we are right now.
This may sound crazy, but if you were to type faster than light speed, then you would be typing before you even got to the keyboard and sooner or later, you would be typing when you were a fetus or something.
amazing what 14 year olds know these days
2006-07-10 20:47:05 · answer #4 · answered by Eng 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that's 100% correct. His theory states that when you are traveling at the speed of light, light STILL travels at the speed of light relative to you. ... there is no "Doplar Efect" with light as there is with sound.
Therefore, the speed of light is a constant ... and TIME is the variable.
So if you travel at the speed of light for 20 years and return to the same spot on earth, 0 amount of time will have passed on earth but you will be 20 years older.
2006-07-10 20:28:44 · answer #5 · answered by Crapper 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
good thinking but it also states that once you hit the speed of light your mass becomes infinite which i believe to be untrue also our modern concept of time i think time does not exist but is a man made conceat to explain the way things happen if time is real that would mean that it is acually a pyhsical essence i think time is relative to the observer and can be altered by that same observer
2006-07-10 20:13:17 · answer #6 · answered by collegeb16 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it`s all relative.
time is stationary relative to the observer. If you were travelling at the speed of light, YOUR time would slow, but MY time on earth would be normal
2006-07-10 20:08:19 · answer #7 · answered by greengunge 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you are correct that if you did the impossible, (reach the speed of light) that the impossible would happen, time would appear to stop. but that isn't really saying that much. you are wrong in thinking that time has a velocity.
2006-07-10 20:13:11 · answer #8 · answered by karl k 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
whoa you really put thought into this but you're right
2006-07-10 20:06:40 · answer #9 · answered by metronome 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow! Umm idk
2006-07-10 20:05:13 · answer #10 · answered by Divine One 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋