If a sailor on top of a mast one light -second high, drops a clock what does clock read at the base of mast?

Answer 1

It would read the current time of course, in this case if right now the clock falls on the floor in my country it would say 8:25 pm ;)

Answer 2

One light second is 186,000 miles, so I guess the question is asking how long an object takes to fall 186,000 miles, but the wording of the question doesn't really make that clear. Or it could be alluding to the fact that as seen from one light second away, by a person at the bottom of the mast at the moment it was dropped, it would be 1 second slow. Anyway, it would take about 2 days to fall that far, if you include the fact that gravity is much weaker at an altitude of 186,000 miles than it is at an altitude of 1 mile.

Answer 3

Firstly, the clock wouldnt drop due to the fact that it was so far away, the gravity of the Earth wouldnt attract it. Secondly, if the planet it was falling to did have that much mass to attract an object that small at 186.000 miles away, it would depend on the planets mass and atmosphere!

Answer 4

It will never reach the base of the mast. One light-second is approximately 20 miles which is approximately the altitude the space shuttle orbits at.

The clock will either be burned up in the earth's atmosphere on re-entry or if it is designed with adequate heat shields, it will be smashed to bits when it hits the deck.

Answer 5

The height of a mast ( or anything else ) can't be measured in fractions of a second. Tall objects are measured in feet and inches.

Answer 6

The clock wouldn't read anything, clocks can't read!

Answer 7

My vote goes to "Finnegan's Wake" by James Joyce