2006-09-24 20:01:26 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The twins paradox relates to Einstein's theory of relativity.
Basically one twin stays on Earth and the other flies around the universe at the speed of light. When the travelling twin returns to Earth, he will have aged only a feel years but the twin that remained on Earth will have aged significantly.
The paradox occurs when you ask why the remaining twin aged and not the traveller (frame of refrence). The paradox is solved by Einstein's special theory of relativity regarding the slowing of time and acceleration.
2006-09-24 20:05:29 · answer #1 · answered by John H 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The twin paradox, sometimes called the "clock paradox", stems from Paul Langevin's 1911 thought experiment in special relativity: one of two twin brothers undertakes a long space journey with a high-speed rocket at almost the speed of light, while the other twin remains on Earth. When the traveler returns to Earth, he is younger than the twin who stayed put. Or, as first stated by Albert Einstein (1911):
If we placed a living organism in a box ... one could arrange that the organism, after any arbitrary lengthy flight, could be returned to its original spot in a scarcely altered condition, while corresponding organisms which had remained in their original positions had already long since given way to new generations. For the moving organism the lengthy time of the journey was a mere instant, provided the motion took place with approximately the speed of light. (in Resnick and Halliday, 1992)
This appears to be a paradox if one expects that, according to relativity, either twin may validly claim to be "at rest", and thus each expects that the other twin will age slowly. Like most paradoxes, this occurs because of faulty assumptions. This one happens because one twin undergoes acceleration while the other does not, something that was not taken into account when this twin-paradox story was invented.
2006-09-24 20:09:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Its about twins who got their PhD's on different planets and when they finally got back together - they were a pair of docs. However one of them was much older than the other - which seemed like a paradox - when first proposed by Einstein. Now it is just accepted as what happens when one of twins moves near the speed of light relative to the other as described by Special Relativity.
2006-09-24 21:10:00 · answer #3 · answered by Timothy K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not sure what you mean.
Maybe it is that some twins are exact copies of each other and other twins are like a miror image of each other. Then some twins are exact opposites even if they are from one egg.
Also in life one small, minut decision could change one twins entire life compared to the other twin. Which would include height, weight, emotional issues, illnesses, etc
2006-09-24 20:12:30 · answer #4 · answered by clcalifornia 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋