- Basic properties of universe:
- space: 3D representation of everything we see and do
- time: 4th dimension, change in space
- space-time continuum: any occurrence in our universe is an event of space and time
- matter: anything taking up space
- motion: changing location in space
- mass: amount of force required to make something accelerate
- relativistic mass: mass depends on the object's motion in relation to the observer's motion. closely linked to energy
- energy: an object's ability to do work.
- Time, space, matter and energy are all intertwined. The faster you go, the more time slows down. The larger the mass, the more your gravity attracts.
- But back to energy:
- light: form of energy and maybe someday someone else can explain its properties because that's another show entirely
- speed of light: the speed of electromagnetic radiation (light - contains information, so speed of information)
- We don't know an event in spacetime occurred until the information reaches us thru some type of radiation (radio, tv, etc).
- The information from the event travels at 186,000 miles/second in a vacuum. Explains a lag: If you have a stopped train beginning that begins to move forward, the last car will have a short delay before it receives the info and it's pulled forward
- speed of light: the speed of electromagnetic radiation (light - contains information, so speed of information)
- light: form of energy and maybe someday someone else can explain its properties because that's another show entirely
- Frames of reference: where you happen to be standing
- Special relativity states that the faster you travel, the more time slows. But a person moving at a slower speed would experience time differently than a person moving at the speed of light.
- The speed of light is 186,000 miles/s. Very, very fast. It's physically impossible for anything to travel faster than the speed of light.
- That's because mass and energy are relative. The faster an object is moving, the more its mass increases, using the formula:
- m = m0 / sqrt {1 - (V-squared/C-squared)}
- Velocity has to be "really fast" to be able to measure the difference in mass.
- The time dilation effect: An astronaut traveling at the speed of light would age at a slower rate (relatively speaking) than those on earth. If such an astronaut left earth and then returned, everyone they know would have aged at an astonishing rate while the astronaut remained relatively young. Visual.
- To prove that time flows differently depending on mass: take 2 watches and place one at the lowest valley while the other is moved to the top of the highest mountain... the 2 watches will actually diverge. Time will move faster (relatively speaking) at the higher altitude. Why? Because there is less mass/gravity, the farther you are from a dense object like the earth.
- Even the greatest change in altitude here on earth (or the fastest speed we could create) will only register the minutest changes on the most sensitive of clocks.
- Similarly, a stationary clock will move faster (relatively speaking) than a moving clock. But again, it takes extremely high speeds or extreme changes in distance from mass for effects of relativity to really add up.
apr 2 2013 ∞
may 18 2013 +
may 18 2013 +