Is time just a measurement of duration or is it an actual part of the universe that can be manipulated? Can I travel faster than time? I've heard that time is the 4th dimension after the 3 dimensions of space, can someone explain this further?
2007-05-24 01:44:46 · 7 answers · asked by Father of Lies 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It does not make sense to ask whether we can travel faster than time. Time is not a speed. If you are asking whether we can ever travel faster than the speed of light, the answer is fundamentally no, so far as our current understanding of the universe holds. The basis of relativity (on which the idea of time as the 4th dimension is essentially derived) is that nothing can ever travel faster than the speed of light.
As to your question "What is time?", time is a measure of duration in terms of relative motion. It is a measure of relative change. So if there were no matter in the universe, or if all the matter in the universe never moved, there would be no time.
Hence, time is not a constant, but rather depends on which frame of reference you are in (i.e. on earth, on a comet, in a train, etc). So, in some sense, it can be manipulated. For instance, if you are moving relative to someone else, time slows down for you. For an interesting example of this and to learn more about time, check out the famous "Twin paradox" of relativity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_paradox
2007-05-24 01:57:59 · answer #1 · answered by moto 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The forth dimensional reference to time just means that the equations have 4 variables that go into them. It's just a way to measure sequences of events and prevents us from being at two places simultaneously.
2007-05-24 08:48:16 · answer #2 · answered by Gene 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Time is exactly what you stated in your first sentence--time is a measurement created by man to keep track of where we are and what we are doing--
Time is also the determination of where the planet is positioned in accordance with the sun and the other planets--
2007-05-24 08:53:35 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Time:
- Continuous existence of the universe.
- Particular point of place.
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I'm sure there will be a time (lawl @ nerd joke) where we can travel faster than time, and also there are most likely other dimensions...
....Where does one go after being sucked into a blackhole? Hmmm...?
2007-05-24 08:47:31 · answer #4 · answered by Śćĕņįĉ мąššąćŗĕ 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Length, width, height, and when.
2007-05-24 08:50:21 · answer #5 · answered by medicine wheel 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Time....is something.
2007-05-24 10:07:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
time is what I crave....when I'm lying on your mom's bed
2007-05-24 08:47:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋