- #1
starfish99
- 28
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Acceleration doesn't "cause" the Twin Paradox?
In a recent review of a physics textbook, the reviewer is critical of the author of the book because the the author doesn't correct the persistent notion of many students that it is the acceleration of one of the twins that "causes"[reviewer's quotes] the differential aging in the twin paradox.
Suppose we have a set of twins, Eartha and Stella. Stella accelerates in a ship to nearly the speed of light and lands on a planet 30 light years away. Immediately upon landing,Stella sends a picture of herself to Eartha, the stay-at-home twin. What would Eartha say upon receiving the image of her twin? Eartha would say that her sister looks exactly like the day she left!
All Stella did was accelerate to near the speed of light.There was no meet-up back on earth. There wasn't even a turn around or any change in direction. Just acceleration and deceleration
My Question: Why is this persistent notion in error?
If acceleration didn't cause the differential aging, what did?
(Please no General Relativity)
In a recent review of a physics textbook, the reviewer is critical of the author of the book because the the author doesn't correct the persistent notion of many students that it is the acceleration of one of the twins that "causes"[reviewer's quotes] the differential aging in the twin paradox.
Suppose we have a set of twins, Eartha and Stella. Stella accelerates in a ship to nearly the speed of light and lands on a planet 30 light years away. Immediately upon landing,Stella sends a picture of herself to Eartha, the stay-at-home twin. What would Eartha say upon receiving the image of her twin? Eartha would say that her sister looks exactly like the day she left!
All Stella did was accelerate to near the speed of light.There was no meet-up back on earth. There wasn't even a turn around or any change in direction. Just acceleration and deceleration
My Question: Why is this persistent notion in error?
If acceleration didn't cause the differential aging, what did?
(Please no General Relativity)