how is it that matter controls time?

Question

like when you're near a black hole..time slows down...how? and why?

Answer 1

As you know, when light passes through a prism the ray of light is bent as it passes from one medium into the other.
The short reason for this is that the light follows the fastest path, not necessarily the shortest path.

So, if a ray of starlight passes close to the sun, the ray of light chooses an alternate path that is farther from the sun, because this alternate path is faster.

The direct path takes the ray of light into a region of space where time runs slower due to the gravity of the sun.

The ray of light appears to be bent toward the sun by the sun's gravity, but is actually being pushed away into a region where the light can travel faster.

This results from the sun's gravitational time dilation.

Recall that the electrons in orbit around an atom are bound to the atom by the continuous exchange of photons.
These photons would also be effected by the gravitational dilation of a massive object, with the obvious result that the atom tends to be drawn toward the object.

In my opinion, gravity's attractive effect can be fully explained as a natural consequence of gravitational time dilation.

Which still leaves the question: "How does a massive object modify time?"
(Sorry about not answering your question.)

Answer 2

Time does not slow down. To the local observer time is always the same, near a black hole or far from it. It is only that signals you send from a point lower in a gravitational potential well get red-shifted while they are going out. You don't need a black hole, either. A good atomic clock can measure this effect on earth and probably every physics department worth mentioning discusses (and sometimes offers) a nuclear physics experiment using the Moessbauer effect that can be used to measure this red-shift in the lab.

Answer 3

Time is defined as an interval between events. Where there is matter there is movement, where there is movement there is time. A black hole can attract matter to it with such force that the matter can, for a tiny period of time reach relativistic speed before disappearing into the black hole where time and movement does not exist.

Answer 4

The gravitational acceleration near a black hole actually causes spacetime to be distorted. It's called 'time dilation' and it can even be observed in the vicinity of our Sun.

Doug

Answer 5

time (as we know it) is based on the speed of light. a black hole is a big sink that pulls in matter faster than the speed of light. matter does not control time; time controls matter.