What is time??

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by Shadow1, Feb 5, 2011.

  1. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    what is time??

    who can answer, will understand my question without explinations to it

    no really, what is time? is time missunderstood? i mean, it's not like, a misterious something, well, it is, but it's also related to gravity in some part of it :shrug:
     
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  3. Pinwheel Banned Banned

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    Time is what stops everything happening all at once.
     
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  5. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Time is a dimension, just like length, width and depth. You can specify a location by using the first three dimensions but you cannot specify an event without using time (when it occurred).

    For example, you can use the map coordinates to pinpoint a city, say London, England. But if you are talking about the London Blitz, you will also have to specify when: Between 7 September 1940 and 11 May 1941.
     
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  7. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    .

    and who said that it's not all happening in the same time? like, the other univerces, idk
     
  8. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    well, that's not what i meant, i meant, like, what is water, water is H2O, so, what is time? physicly, and what does it do? and how does it work? and how is it affected, why is it affected with speed? and how does that happen? what is the time anyway, as an energy i mean, not, a coordinate, and, since i can't talk on time, alone, what is the spacetime? how does it work? :shrug:
     
  9. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    Time is abstract, it does not exist in physical form, it is not a dimension, it is not an energy/Force like gravity, Nor is it any type of transcendent photon beam of light. nor liquid solid or gas. Its not on a quantum level of appearing and re-appearing nor is it controle dby one main super particle.

    Time is Simply a Measuring device we use that is completely abstract, Akin to distance or numbers, There is no "Number one energy" or "5 Mile force" Simply a measuring toold we use to calculate things.

    there is The Fabric of space which is the foundation of the Universe which allow Mass and energy to reside in existence, It is the 3d Canvas for creational art it is a clear, lucid canvas.

    The Energies and forces keep the cycles of the Galaxies in check so the universe is like a huge clockwork self sustaining system which can reproduce and give birth to future generations of Entitys and lifeforms. From the animals on the planet to the black holes and stars they all have cycles of birth and death.

    If Time exists then somebody will be able to present me with some "Time" for observational study. Time itself has no physical role in any of the working parts it is just something we use to calculate cycle rotations.

    peace.
     
  10. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Most of the questions you are asking have *nothing* to do with time. Time is not a physical thing, like water, nor is it an "energy." It's almost like asking, "I see a yellow cat outside my window but yesterday there was a black one there. So how much effect will that change of cats have on the temperature in Moscow this morning?"

    Time IS a coordinate - that's the answer to your question.

    Yes, time and space have a relationship with each other which leads us to use the term "spacetime." But that - and the change in time with the speed of an object - are relativistic in nature. And to understand that relationship you would need to spend considerable time studying the Theory of Relativity. And that's something not easily done unless you have a heavy background in mathematics - something that I gather you are missing right now.
     
  11. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Time is something that humans invented to use for many purposes that they do. Time is used for the way to tell when specfic events are going top happen or have happened. Time is a way to have to be certain that things are done at a certain time to be there when it happens.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2011
  12. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    That's true cosmic, but just remember that time existed BEFORE we were aware of it and developed means to measure it's passage.

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  13. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    i think that's why i am asking what is time.

    time, do exist, when an astronut, go to the earth's orbit, and let's say, stay their for a week, after a week, the human on earth, will be an earth week more in he's age, while, the person who's on that orbit, will be younger than that who's on earth with few seconds.

    if you transmetted an information in a very very high speed, it will reach it's target, a part of a second before :shrug:
     
  14. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    nope, you didnt understand my question, and also, i think i'm more asking, because, i don't know what it is, because i know it's not like energy or whatever from those you said, and, i'm asking, what, is it? how does it work? how did it exist?
     
  15. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    that's not what i meant, that's why i don't want to call it time, because, i don't mean, the time like the dates and etc...
     
  16. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    but, what is "time"? i don't want to call the time "time"
    so, how does that "thing"/"time"/"uuuuh" work, and what is it?

    (don't tell me it's the clock and the thing human invented and etc... i made a thread before saying "time" don't exist, and nowi changed my mind
     
  17. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Obviously, you didn't read the last part of what I told you in my last reply (or didn't bother to try to understand it). Your problem is that you do NOT understand math or relativity. And without those two things you will never, ever understand what we're trying to get across to you.

    And your last statement (above) is purely wrong!!! Just like most of the stuff EmptyForce told you. He doesn't know any more about real science than you do.:shrug:

    Unless you make a little more effort to understand, I'm finished with this.
     
  18. birch Valued Senior Member

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    5,077
    technically time doesn't exist, there is only the present. we understand past, present and future because of memory and thus can examine processes and think ahead.
     
  19. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    Truth.
     
  20. Shadow1 Valued Senior Member

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    well, i yes, i don't know about relativety, and i don't know much maths for those stuff, i'm still in high school

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    i think that means i can't understand it intill i study the relativity no?
     
  21. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, that's right.

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    Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying it's your fault that you don't understand - it's just that you haven't gotten far enough along in your studies to handle the material needed to understand the answers to your questions.

    And there's nothing wrong with that - we all have to go through the learning process and get the basics before we can understand the tougher stuff. And getting a grip on time IS pretty tough stuff!!

    Here's another bit - time is SO difficult to figure out that even the highest-level professionals out there still understand just a tiny bit of it.

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  22. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    Einstein once wrote something like the following about time, which I think is very succinct and pretty much describes it.
    When an individual ponders his experiences, he can order the events in his life using the criteria of before and after. He can assign a number to each event in such a way that events assigned a lower number occurred before events assigned a higher number.

    It is convenient to use a device called a clock to provide a consistent set of numbers for use in ordering events.

    In describing the laws of physics using the language of mathematics, it is convenient (if not necessary) to use a continuous variable called time. This variable similarly orders events based on the criteria of before and after.

    There is little (if anything) more that can be said relating to time.​
    he above is not a quote: It is a paraphrase based on my not infallible memory. I Think it is from the preface to one of his books or essays on Relativity. I have read several articles containing very lengthy & confusing verbiage which did not seem to describe the concept of time any better than the above.

    It is interesting that Albert used bold or italics for before & after, implying that they should be considered primitive terms, not definable via the use of simpler terms or concepts.

    Note that an axiomatic system requires undefined primitive terms to avoid various problems associated with circular definitions.

    It is interesting that Albert did not mention the concept of the flow of time from past through the present into the future, which does seem to be a construct (illusion?) of the human mind rather than an objective process associated with reality.
     
  23. Keln Registered Member

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    I am glad this topic was posted, as I often think about time also. I have often wondered about a few things concerning time and relativity.

    First, to make sure I understand time dilation, as one approaches c, delta t approaches 0. And that, when v=c, delta t = 0.

    So, one question I have is, what happens when v=0? Does delta t approach infinity? Is the only reason that humans perceive time passing, instead of instantaneously happening because we have a %c velocity as the Earth rotates, circles the sun, the solar system's velocity through the galaxy, and the galaxy's velocity through the universe?

    And is it possible for an object to have v=0 with respect to the universe? Absolute Zero with respect to velocity? And if so, what affect would this have on temperature of that object? Absolute Zero as well? I have read that an object accelerated to v=c, with delta t being 0, would also present a temperature of absolute zero, which is theoretically impossible.

    And how would time pass on such an object? If it was completely stationary, with no velocity whatsoever, following the time dilation aspect of relativity, would time pass all at once for this object? Would an observer even ever perceive its own existence?

    And, another question. When we say an object has a velocity...especially in terms of %c... what is this velocity relative to? The reason I ask is, if our imaginary v=0, stationary object might have no kinetic energy whatsoever, but could be said to have a velocity with respect to the universe, which is moving, even if it is not. As an example, a person could be standing still, while a car is traveling 60 mph away from them. Can it also be said that the person has a velocity of 60 mph with respect to the car?

    These are the things I wonder about.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2011

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