ebodet18 said:So what would happen if there was a spaceship moving at 99% the speed of light straight up. The spaceship has a light clock, so a photon of light moving bouncing between 2 mirrors in such a way that the light moves ALMOST in sync with the spaceship moving up. In theory wouldn't the light photon move very very slowly up to the top mirror and back to the bottom. Would time be almost come to a complete stop?
No problem! Relativity is fascinatingebodet18 said:Ahh that's interesting! Thanks for the quick answer!
Assuming the spaceship's light clock is oriented in the usual manner--parallel to the direction of travel--then the light would be moving just slightly faster than the mirror as the light traveled from bottom to top. So as observed by you on Earth (if you could make measurements of the light's travel between mirrors) the light would cover that distance rather slowly. (The speed of light is the same, but the mirror is moving away from the light.) But during the reverse trip (from top back to bottom) the light would be moving towards the oncoming bottom mirror. So from your viewpoint on earth, the travel time going up is greater than the travel time going down.ebodet18 said:So what would happen if there was a spaceship moving at 99% the speed of light straight up. The spaceship has a light clock, so a photon of light moving bouncing between 2 mirrors in such a way that the light moves ALMOST in sync with the spaceship moving up. In theory wouldn't the light photon move very very slowly up to the top mirror and back to the bottom.
No. While the "ticking" of that moving light clock would be slow as observed by you, it only slows by a factor of about 7.Would time be almost come to a complete stop?
A light clock is a thought experiment used in Einstein's theory of relativity. It consists of a clock with a light source at the top and a mirror at the bottom. The light bounces back and forth between the source and the mirror, creating a ticking sound. When the clock is in motion, the light path becomes longer, causing the ticks to slow down.
It helps illustrate the concept of time dilation and how time passes differently for objects in motion compared to those at rest. It also demonstrates the principles of special relativity and the constant speed of light.
No, the light clock is a thought experiment and does not exist in physical form. However, it is a useful tool for understanding the effects of special relativity.
The faster the spaceship moves, the slower the light clock will tick. At .99c, the light clock will experience time dilation, meaning it will tick slower compared to a clock on a stationary object.
Besides speed, the ticking of the light clock can also be affected by gravity and acceleration. The closer the clock is to a massive object or the more it accelerates, the slower it will tick, as predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.