what's the theory of relativity..?
it's something to do with time slowing down the faster you move?
it's something to do with time slowing down the faster you move?
einsteins relativity..
- Thread starter ColJack
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once saw it explained on a program as this (very basic but at least i understood it)
Imagine you are travelling on a train going from a to b. Alongside the train track there are telegraph poles. When you are at the point exactly in the middle of two poles each one is struck at exactly the same time by a streak of lightning. Because you are travelling towards one and away from one it will appear the one you are travelling to is hit first, and the one you are travelling away from is hit after. Ie its your perception of time and its relatativity to you.
Does that make sense????
Imagine you are travelling on a train going from a to b. Alongside the train track there are telegraph poles. When you are at the point exactly in the middle of two poles each one is struck at exactly the same time by a streak of lightning. Because you are travelling towards one and away from one it will appear the one you are travelling to is hit first, and the one you are travelling away from is hit after. Ie its your perception of time and its relatativity to you.
Does that make sense????
time and the speed of light are relative.
the speed of light never changes. even an object travelling forward, the light leaving that object still travels at the same speed. unlike firing a bullet from a gun from a moving vehicle, for example.
the closer you get to the speed of light the slower time will pass.
the speed of light never changes. even an object travelling forward, the light leaving that object still travels at the same speed. unlike firing a bullet from a gun from a moving vehicle, for example.
the closer you get to the speed of light the slower time will pass.
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imagine you are sitting in a space rocket here on Earth.
you engine is revving and ready to go. this is no ordinary rocket but one that can catch light. yes, it can travel at light speed!
images of our planet are leaving the Earth and travelling away from the earth. from out in space you can see the earth, all big and blue and beautiful. that is because light is travelling away from the earth.
from a great distance away, people looking at the Earth will see it as it was some years ago. this is because of the time it takes light to reach certain objects that are light years away.
now then back to the rocket!
you take off and accelerate to light speed. eventually you will catch up with images of the earth, but these images left the earth some time previously.
you will effectively be travelling back in time. at some point time will slow, then stop, then go backwards.
all theory and speculation of course. the speed of light is impossible for a physical object to achieve, as mass becomes infinite.
you engine is revving and ready to go. this is no ordinary rocket but one that can catch light. yes, it can travel at light speed!
images of our planet are leaving the Earth and travelling away from the earth. from out in space you can see the earth, all big and blue and beautiful. that is because light is travelling away from the earth.
from a great distance away, people looking at the Earth will see it as it was some years ago. this is because of the time it takes light to reach certain objects that are light years away.
now then back to the rocket!
you take off and accelerate to light speed. eventually you will catch up with images of the earth, but these images left the earth some time previously.
you will effectively be travelling back in time. at some point time will slow, then stop, then go backwards.
all theory and speculation of course. the speed of light is impossible for a physical object to achieve, as mass becomes infinite.
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In my opinion they are all wrong about this relativity thingy i will explain later when i have a few years to explain what really happens when yea travel faster than the speed of light but im all ears for suggestions,
but they are way off not even close.
but they are way off not even close.
I think what you mean is that the illusion of time in relation to things outside the spaceship will slow.
If you are wearing a watch and set off at the speed of light, travel for 15 minutes and then travel back for 15 minutes, people on Earth would have waited 30 minutes for your return and time within the spaceship (on your watch) should show a 30 minute journey
If you are wearing a watch and set off at the speed of light, travel for 15 minutes and then travel back for 15 minutes, people on Earth would have waited 30 minutes for your return and time within the spaceship (on your watch) should show a 30 minute journey
it is no illusion mw.
as i described earlier, when you look out into space, the images of the most distant planets are many years old.
you are seeing that planet as it was some time in the past. it may not even exist now.
this is because the passage of light and the passage of time are both relative and intertwined.
if you travelled towards that planet faster than the speed of light, and kept that planet in your sights, time would effectively shift.
as i described earlier, when you look out into space, the images of the most distant planets are many years old.
you are seeing that planet as it was some time in the past. it may not even exist now.
this is because the passage of light and the passage of time are both relative and intertwined.
if you travelled towards that planet faster than the speed of light, and kept that planet in your sights, time would effectively shift.
Errrmmmm ... I don't think you'll find that's been proven yet Noseall
this much is true.
but it is interesting to think that some images of distant stars take years to reach us.
these images travel at light speed. here on earth, a star that is 10 light years away is only visible to us as it was 10 years ago.
but, if you were very close to the planet you would see it as it was present day.
so, the passage of time and the passage of light are linked.
Only in as much as it takes a finite time for light to get somewhere.
Let me explain what I mean.
If I pull a pint of beer on a train bar in Scotland at 10:00 and the train travels at 100 mph, by the time the train gets to Bristol the beer will be flat ... The beer will be fine at Newcastle though (until some Geordie necks it)
Purely the time taken to get from A to B ... Same with light IMO.
Let me explain what I mean.
If I pull a pint of beer on a train bar in Scotland at 10:00 and the train travels at 100 mph, by the time the train gets to Bristol the beer will be flat ... The beer will be fine at Newcastle though (until some Geordie necks it)
Purely the time taken to get from A to B ... Same with light IMO.
Exactly!
that's the definition I was hoping to get from someone..
it's true that if you were traveling away from the earth at half the speed of light, if you had a telescope capable of looking at the earth as you flew away, you would see everything on the earth moving at half the normal speed..
if you traveled for 1 year and stopped, the earth would appear to be 1/2 year behind you time wise..
but if you then traveled back towards the earth, again at half the speed of light and with the same telescope, then everything on the earth would be seen to be moving at 1.5x the normal speed.. ( 1x light speed traveling towards you, 1/2x light speed you are traveling towards it..)
if the whole trip took you 2 years (1 there, 1 back.. ) then 2 years have passed on the ship, and 2 years have passed on the earth..
so time is not relative to speed..
if you flew towards that same star that is 10 lightyears away at the speed of light, you would see 20 years of it's history as you approached it, intercepting the light as you traveled.. ( 20 years because what we see is 10 years old, and the trip takes 10 years.. )
it's true that if you were traveling away from the earth at half the speed of light, if you had a telescope capable of looking at the earth as you flew away, you would see everything on the earth moving at half the normal speed..
if you traveled for 1 year and stopped, the earth would appear to be 1/2 year behind you time wise..
but if you then traveled back towards the earth, again at half the speed of light and with the same telescope, then everything on the earth would be seen to be moving at 1.5x the normal speed.. ( 1x light speed traveling towards you, 1/2x light speed you are traveling towards it..)
if the whole trip took you 2 years (1 there, 1 back.. ) then 2 years have passed on the ship, and 2 years have passed on the earth..
so time is not relative to speed..
if you flew towards that same star that is 10 lightyears away at the speed of light, you would see 20 years of it's history as you approached it, intercepting the light as you traveled.. ( 20 years because what we see is 10 years old, and the trip takes 10 years.. )
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