Recent content by cataclysmic

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    I don't see what's weird about the double slit experiment

    I've been reading & watching videos about the double slit experiment, and I'm failing to see what's so interesting & strange about it (I hope someone can enlighten me on what I'm missing). The weirdness is NOT the fact that observing an electron changes it's behaviour (right?) At first I...
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    Reading Einstein's book & confused about simultaneous events

    Thanks, but I still don't understand. Say I'm in the middle of a pond, and two people at opposite shores drop identical rocks into the pond. I could try to detect whether the rock hit the water simultaneously by observing when the waves in the water caused by each rock reach me. If the...
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    Reading Einstein's book & confused about simultaneous events

    I'm reading "Relativity: The Special and the General Theory" and I'm at the end of Chapter 9 & confused. If I understand correctly, this is what he has said so far (in my own words): Say that lightning strikes 2 points (A and B) on a railway embankment. To determine whether the two...
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    What will I see in this scenario? (involves rockets traveling near light speed)

    Thanks for the answer. Was I correct in thinking that I will see rocket #1's clock running slowly, and that someone on rocket 1 will see rocket #2's clock running slowly?
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    What will I see in this scenario? (involves rockets traveling near light speed)

    What will happen in the following scenario? I am standing on the earth. Right next to me, a small rocket containing a clock blasts off and accelerates to 90% of the speed of light almost instantly (within its 1st millimeter of travel). As the rocket passes my head, I look at its clock...
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    Relative Motion Leads To Impossibilities (or so it seems to me can you help?)

    I looked up "inertial reference frame" on Wikipedia, which says "An inertial frame of reference is one in which the motion of a particle not subject to forces is in a straight line at constant speed." I'll assume that that is what you mean when you say "inertial reference frame"... So it...
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    Relative Motion Leads To Impossibilities (or so it seems to me can you help?)

    It's a problem because I've heard that if someone travels away from Earth very fast and then returns, less time will have passed on their clock than on mine here on earth. For example, to start both of our clocks say 5pm, but after he leaves and comes back, his clock says 6pm whereas mine says...
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    Relative Motion Leads To Impossibilities (or so it seems to me can you help?)

    I have a couple questions about relative motion, since I've been reading everywhere that motion is relative... (Feel free to point me to other threads that answer these questions if there are any - I searched and couldn't easily find any) QUESTION #1 So if I'm standing still, and...
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