Re: Beautiful Equations

On 18/12/2010 22:26, michael adams wrote:
"Sofa - Spud"<comfysofas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ieishm$lru$2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I may see that just for that alone - what *is* the theory of
relativity? why does time go slower or is it faster in a spaceship?

Just imagine you're sitting astride a beam of light speeding away from a clock.

You set off at say exactly 12.00

If you look over your shoulder back at the clock (assuming you had a powerful
enough telescope ) the clock would still showing 12.00 as the beams of light
from the clock would be travelling at the same speed as you are. You'd still
be seeing the same set of beams. Showing 12.00 clock.

So that from where you are, sat astride the beam of light, time on earth would
appear to have stopped.

If you sat on something else travelling slightly slower than a beam of light
then the clock would appear to be moving slowly, much slower than a clock you
had alongside you.

Distances also change. If you were in a spaceship travelling at the close to the
speed of light then the spaceship would look shorter to a stationary observer.

While from where you are on the spaceship, looking through your telescope the
distance travelled by the hands on the clock will look much shorter than they
do to someone standing 6ft away.



I've heard this before and understand it , but doen't change the fact that time *hasn't* gone slower or faster. The amount of time taken - Say I fly to the nearest planet and take a year (by my watch) then it's still taken a year , yet the idea is I get home and it's been much longer. How does that work?
.

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