Why is "time" considered a physical dimension?

Question

You hear people talking about time as the 4th physical dimension and how it slows down based on gravity, etc.

Isn't this inherently flawed? Isn't time constant regardless of how slow things actually move? I mean, if a clock records time passing fast when further away from the Earth doesn't that just mean that the elements used to measure time are moving faster? Time is still constant, things are just happening faster.

Answer 1

It isn't a physical dimension, but it is a dimension nonetheless.

It is called a dimension, but no one thinks of it as a PHYSICAL dimension as in UP/ Down, left /right, back / forth.

To our intuitive understanding as humans living in the environment of time, yes, time seems to be constant.

However, there is no empirical evidence that time could not also move backwards.

Not only that, but the measurable effects of relativity are what cause the expansion and contraction of time.

The objects themselves (such as a clock or an observer) do not normally experience this contraction and expansion. It is only when we measure these effects relative to other viewpoints ( fast moving objects) that we see time as flexible.
That’s what the theory of ‘relativity’ is all about.

You can trust me on this one, TIME is NOT constant at all places in the universe.
Time definitely contracts and expands, as counterintuitive as it seems.
And, although we haven't been able to directly experience it yet, every formula in physics, especially string theory, concludes that time could indeed move backwards just as easily as it seems to move forward.

It is as difficult to conceive how time operates as it is to conceive how quantum phenomenon operate. Everything we think we know on our human scale of experience is completely wrong when we enter the worlds of the very large, or the very small.

The "elements that record time" do in fact physically compress when they travel faster. They also gain a slight amount of mass. As any moving object approaches the speed of light, it gains incredible mass and compresses significantly. In fact, as an object approaches this theoretical "speed limit" (light speed) it gains SO MUCH mass that it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it more. That's why light speed is not possible for anything with physical mass, like a clock.

However, we can accelerate objects, (like clocks in aircraft) fast enough to observe the effects of relativity. If you use a cell phone, you are linking to satellite that must continually adjust its internal clock to allow for this phenomenon.

The only way I can describe the phenomenon in this limited format is to have you try a thought experiment.

Imagine that you have a car. A REALLY FAST car!

You get in your fast car and accelerate; say to a hundred miles an hour. You don’t feel it, but you are in fact compressing yourself and the car in time. The length of the car is minutely shorter than it was at the starting line. You are just a tiny fraction skinnier too.

Now you press the pedal and accelerate to two thousand miles an hour. ( this car can fly by the way) Once you establish a cruising speed of two thousand, you may not feel any different physically, but now your car and your body are measurably shorter / skinnier. You and your car also have a measurable increase in mass. If you want your dashboard clock to agree with the radio-synchronized clock on the ground, you have to adjust your clock a small, but finite amount.

Now, you break out of Earth’s orbit and head into space. You put the pedal to the metal! Just for fun, we’ll assume you have an infinite supply of gas and can keep accelerating up to light speed. Your car, (and you) are getting physically much shorter (relative to the to the direction of travel) and you are in fact “dilating time.”
As you compress, time expands.

Of course, this type of acceleration is impossible, a least as far as we know now. But ALL of our scientific experiments prove this: time is not constant, It can expand and compress. The same equations that accurately predict and measure this behavior, also indicate that time can indeed, move backwards just as easily as it seems ( to us ) to move forward.

Time is a dimension… not exactly like our intuitive physical dimensions, but rather a dimension that affects the other dimensions in measurable ways that we can predict.

Answer 2

You need to accept certain definitions of time if you want to discuss with others, since without a common definition, you have no base for discussion.

Time is not a physical dimension but is considered as the 4th dimension. There are probably other dimensions also.

The dilation of time at relativistic velocities is what you are referring to. The running of clock, the aging of things, all slow down. So, how will you measure the time. Pl. read the special theory of relativity to get a better understanding of this subject. Best wishes.

Answer 3

this is a little example to show you that THERE IS a dimension called "time"

let's say it's your first day in university, and you have your lessons scheduled on a paper, the information that you will find in this paper is:
1) the number of the chamber
2) the number of the building
3) the number of the floor

of course these are the 3 dimensions which you are familiar with (x,y,z)
but this is not enough, there is 1 information missing ...

that's right, it's the TIME of the course.

we have a mistaken definition of time since we were kids, so try to be a little creative and let's say we don't knew what time is and think with me what would happen if you went let's say 3 hours earlier !!

you would see a different lecture (a different thing){again don't think in the time as you knew it}, to see what you really came for you have to be there in the right time or another word to interfear with the same time that your lesson will start on.

to make it easier, try to imagine your self in flatland (2d world) the 2d beings can't see you if you were above them, they will see PART of you ONLY if you interfeared there 2d dimensions.
think about the time in the same way, you can't see it all you can see part of it when you are in the right place and right time.

now about the second question, the time is CONSTANT and NOT CONSTANT, for you it's always constant even if you were travailing in the speed of the light, yes i will repeat it again, the time TO YOU will be always constant NO MATTER WHAT, the only thing that will change is the time according to others, if you were travailing in the speed of the light the second for you will be the same as the second now, but it will not be the same second to us.

it's not easy thing to understand unless you had open mind to see things from another respective than you used to

Answer 4

This is first perceived by Einstein .General theory of relativity.
Coming to your question.
The time dimension is not visualized as you think the watch time.
The dimension first given to fix a object generally x,y,z .(space dimention
Then you consider a object is moving to fix it in space after some time t sec you say x1,y1,z1. How will you do velocity will explain that v= distancemoved /time taken. hope you know that , now we are fixing that again in space dimension so the time incorporated in the velocity term.
Generally the physics go with equation the units.
So if you see distance in meter and time in sec then
space dimension should have meter unit only
There fore the time you are calling is not simply t.
it is "ict". i is imaginary symbol, c- is speed of light and t is time. Now , you equate the unit become meter only. So the time is considered as fourth space dimension. This is used to study object in motion . Without time dimension You can 't explain any event. Give thanks to Einstein . "Science God"
Still many people have lot of thinking to understand time dimention. Which is a imaginary directional with unit in meter

Answer 5

Fundamental dimensions measure relations of a matter body to another or areference. Since we have no reference for matter content, we have no fundamental dimension to measure matter content of a body. In order to define a fundamental measurement for distance, rate of certain property of electromagnetic radiation is considered to be constant. Forour convenience, the space about a point is partitioned into eight parts by three mutually perpendicular planes. Distances measured in each of these spatial planes indicate the location of a body. Use of three spatial planes makes the system, three dimensional. Only one type of measurement – the distance or its derivatives - is used in all the three spatial planes. Unless we divide space by more than three planes we cannot have higher dimensional systems. It isalso argued that while the time may be used to represent events, it being a functional entity,does not qualify to be a fundamental dimension


Detail at web page.....

Answer 6

There is not much point making an appointment to meet a friend at a place by giving only three spatial dimensions, you also must give a time.

Answer 7

It's helpful to parse the semantics of your question a bit. The word "constant" is defined as unchanging with reference *to* time, so what does it mean to talk about time itself being constant? Time changes by one second per second, so it's not constant by definition. Work on that.

Answer 8

hi,

Check out the link below:

http://www.geocities.com/matterdoc/fundamental_dimensions_and_time.pdf