It's relativity again - sorry!

Discussion in 'Physics & Math' started by martinev.co.uk, Apr 19, 2002.

  1. martinev.co.uk Registered Member

    Messages:
    9
    Ok I know you're probably all fed up with relativity questions by now. Also, the people who can answer my question have probably said the same thing 3*10^8 times (haha).
    Nevertheless, something's bothering me.

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    I've heard/read that very fast moving things experience time slower and I have no trouble accepting that. Also, in strong gravitational fields - Ok... So that's two things that affect time. In relativity, gravitational effects can be proved the same as acceleration, so time would be slowed down when accelerating too.

    Now, is that three things that affect time? or are they all the same thing? Do they have exactly the same effect on the fabric/passage of time?

    I have an anology to picture time dilation with speed so i'm ok with that; but i don't have faith that it's separate from the gravity/accel effect. -->:bugeye:

    Thanks
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2002
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  3. SpyFox_the_KMeson Doctorate of Yiffology Registered Senior Member

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    I'm not quite sure what you're asking, but...

    Time <b>does</b> slow down for a high-speed object <b>when viewed by a stationary frame of reference.</b> Save the comments about "there is no real stationary observer", etc.

    Time <b>does</b> slow down for objects in a gravitational field, and time <b>does</b> slow down for objects accelerating, again, when compared to a stationary frame of reference.

    I'm not quite sure what you mean by "are they the same thing?", however.
     
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  5. martinev.co.uk Registered Member

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    yeah i knew that and i suppose my question was quite unclear. I don't like the idea that doth of those conditions affect time for the subject in different ways. Surely they are in some way connected?
     
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  7. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    General relativity connects all three types - time dilation due to a change of reference frame, time dilation due to gravity and time dilation due to acceleration. They're all really just the same thing view from different points of view.
     
  8. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    i know acceleration and velocity are conected but how could they be the same (one is a derivitive of the other)?
     
  9. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    If you're travelling at constant speed and I am accelerating, then to me it looks as if I am stationary and you are accelerating. It's just a change of reference frame.
     
  10. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    You could pretty much follow this up with how you perceive time.

    Afterall for it to slow down or speed up, it's doing neither in some instances (for instance accelerating) it's just the speed of your perception of photons reaching you.

    As for gravity and even heat, those photons can be made to take longer in their trajectory.
     
  11. martinev.co.uk Registered Member

    Messages:
    9
    how about..?

    Is this possibly true?: If you travel fast, you have more kinetic energy, which equates to more mass. So could the distortion of Einstein's space-time be similar to that near a body of large mass?

    Just a thought.
     

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