People keep saying this is not true?

Question

I said that the faster you go, the slower time goes, and it would stop at the speed of light, am I correct?

time goes slower for someone travelling at the speed of light, but faster for someone standing still, even though it appears to be the same...it is relative,

I should say, travelling CLOSE to the speed of light, at at the speed

NOT at the speed

Answer 1

You are correct, young Hardy.
Tell 'em all to read up on Einstein, so that they may learn the facts for themselves!

Answer 2

Yes and no.

For you, whatever your speed, your own perception of time remains normal.

If you are going very fast, other people looking at you will perceive you as having a slower time rate.

But, from your viewpoint, you are standing still and the rest of the universe is shooting by you at the very fast speed. As far as you would be concerned, it is their time rate that has slowed down.

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When very fast protons (as cosmic rays) hit the upper atmosphere, pions (pi-mesons) are created which very rapidly become muons (a contraction of mu-meson).

Muons have a half-life of a little over 2 microseconds (millionths of a second). The muons created by a cosmic ray has the same speed and direction as the original proton that created the pion. That speed is very close to the speed of light.

Even at that speed, half the muons should disappear in a distance of less than 600 metres (300,000,000 metres per second for 2 millionths of a second). After

So, if you measure the flux of muons at the top of Mount Washington, and (simultaneously) measure it 1800 metres lower, there whould be only 1/8 of the muons left:
1/2 in the first 600 m, 1/2 of what is left in the second 600 m, 1/2 again of what is left in the third 600 m, after 6 microseconds.

However, such measurements show that there is still more than 1/2 the flux, instead of only 1/8.

Our interpretation is that the muon's "internal clock" has slowed down by a factor of 5 (the clock is only ticking at 20% its "normal rate") so that for the muon, only 6/5 = 1.1 microsecond has elapsed (less than 1/2 the muons have decayed, therefore more than half are still there).

From the muon's point of view, the clock is still ticking normally. It's half-time is still 2 microseconds. It is the mountain that is 5 times smaller.
The distance between the two detectors (which we have set as 1800 metres in our frame of reference) is only 360 m in the frame of reference of the muons.

As far as the muon is concerned, it only takes a little more than a microsecond to cover this distance: that is why more than half of them are still around.

Answer 3

It's totally true. Maybe some clarification would help.

Suppose you were in a powerful spaceship traveling close to the speed of light. You have a clock on board. You're also watching your buddy, who is standing at rest on the Earth. (The poor schmuck.) Your clock seems to be working normally, ticking away the seconds. Your buddy's clock, on the other hand, looks like it's at a dead stop. If you're going at 99.99% of light speed, your buddy's clock only ticks off five days for every year that passes on your clock.

Everything that happens to your buddy is happening slow as you see it. The whole rest of the universe is going in slow motion to you.

The really strange thing is that your buddy sees the same thing. His clock is running fine and your clock is stopped, as far as he can tell. To him, you are the one in slow motion. Who is right? That's the twin paradox.

I need to lay off the coffee.

Answer 4

If you're moving near the speed of light there will be absolutely *no difference* in the rate of time you observe. Your clock will move just as it had before you attained your present velocity. However, anyone else not moving at your velocity who can check your clock will see it moving slower than their own clock. This is why it's called 'relativity.'

Answer 5

You are correct. Einstein first proposed this in his Special Theory of Relativity. Since then numerous observations and experiments have agreed with his formulas.

Answer 6

You're right... It's called Time Dilation. For more information and proof, check out the Mu Meson particle.