Weird question about earth I've wondered for a while now.?

Question

Its 3:21 here. That means it's 4:21 in the next coast over (I think). Each coast's time goes up by an hour all the way around the world. It keeps going up an hour all the way around. So if you could travel at the speed of light around the world, in the direction that the coasts' time increse, would you go forward, faster in time?

Answer 1

You usually gain an hour when you pass from one time zone to another. But at the International date line you lose 23 hours, and traveling that fast, you pretty much end up where you started time wise.

The International Date Line (IDL), also known as just the Date Line, is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth opposite the Prime Meridian which offsets the date as one travels east or west across it. Roughly along 180° longitude, with diversions to pass around some territories and island groups, it mostly corresponds to the time zone boundary separating +12 and −12 hours GMT (UT1). Crossing the IDL traveling east results in a day or 24 hours being subtracted, and crossing west results in a day being added.

Answer 2

No, i don't think so. you see, if you start at a place that the time is 1 o'clock and you go around the world once and when you get back it is 2 o'clock (just an example) it would have taken you 1 hour to get around the world so you are not gaining time or time traveling (the only thing you would gain is a trip round the world in a plane that travels at the speed of light)

Answer 3

Nope cause you would hit the prime meridian that separates tomorrow from today. Basically, if you went around the earth at the speed of light, in one second you will have traveled ten times around it; going back and forth from today into tomorrow, and then back to today; over and over again. What's interesting is that if you could travel at the speed of light, time would stop for the traveler; so theoretically, you could travel thousands of years into the future, without aging a minute! You just couldn't get back.

Answer 4

I don't see how going faster than light matters.

The answer is no. The point we're at in time is the same for all of us. The division of time zones around the world is just to make the world fit in to a 24-hour clock.

Your question seems to suppose that when it's Midday in L.A., and it's 1.00pm in Denver, that the people in Denver have already lived through the time that the Angeleans are just going through. It's not the case.

Answer 5

If you travel at the speed of light, it doesn't matter what direction you are going you will be doing a sort of time travel. Your time, as your approach the speed of light, actually slows down compare to the outside world. So you one second could be 1yr in the outside world's time. In essence you are travling to the future. Unfortunately it is a one way trip. Once you are there, there is no way back.

As to your question, keep going in one direction and the clock will increase until you hit the international date line at which time your clock will be set back 24hrs.

Answer 6

Actually when you think of it you’d think that you would go forward in time, I used to imagine it worked like that too when I was younger. Unfortunately this isn’t so. The delineations used in dividing the Earth into separate time zones really have no physical bearing on the time-space continuum. If you were to travel at the speed of light counter-rotationally for one second you’d orbit the planet 6 times but when you finally landed you’d find that you didn’t really travel forward in time at all.

Astronauts constantly go around the Earth, oftentimes completing an orbit in as little as 65 minutes but they’re obviously not going forward in time.

Answer 7

i'm not sure what you mean by coasts. do you mean time zones?

the US spans 3 time zones (not counting alaska and hawaii)

if you could fly around the world fast enough (it would not have to be at the speed of light) you could actually land before you left.. according to the times of the place you left and the place you land.

you would not be time traveling though. it would still take you however many hours to get there.

if you flew the other way you would not speed up time.

although if you were moving anywhere at the speed of light time would seem to stop for you.

Answer 8

Time doesn't increase as you traverse the globe. Time zones are just a human invention to help us coordinate time. If I drive from the Pacific Time Zone to the Mountain Time Zone, time doesn't increase for me.

So, no. If you travel the speed of light around the world, time would actually slow down for you. According to Einstein, as one approaches the speed of light, time significantly decreases for the one doing the traveling.

Answer 9

To test the premise, one can visit the North or South pole and run around it as fast as you can. Seeing as that is where all meridians of longitude come together, you will have circumnavigated the world each time! Speed of light not needed! (Just a little levity... :-) )

Answer 10

in theroy if u reach the speed of light every thing will come to a halt around you. but u are the only one seeing every thing stop. so which is to say time has stop for u. but every thing else is still ongoing. but not regarding this if u start at 4am ur time zone and u make one round depending of the speed to ur start pt let say 5hrs u would reach back at 9am ur time. so the time zone difference is because every part of the earth faces the sun at different time ie to say their day and night is different. so if its regarding the speed of light no u won't go faster in time u will halt in time but everthing else will just carry on.