How Do Relativity Effects Impact Age During Space Travel?

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the effects of relativity on aging during space travel, specifically focusing on a scenario where an astronaut travels to a star 40 light-years away at a speed of 0.90c, leaving her newborn child on Earth.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore how to calculate the ages of both the astronaut and her child upon her return, with some attempting to apply the time dilation formula and others questioning the assumptions about the child's aging process.

Discussion Status

The discussion includes various interpretations of the problem, with some participants providing calculations and others expressing uncertainty about the relativistic effects involved. There is no explicit consensus on the final ages, but several lines of reasoning are being explored.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating the complexities of relativistic physics and the implications of high-speed travel on aging, with some assumptions about the effects of speed on time experienced by the astronaut versus her child.

rojasharma
Messages
64
Reaction score
0
a 30-year old female astronaut leaves her newborn child on Earth and goes on a round-trip voyage to a star that is 40light-years away in a spaceship traveling at 0.90c. what will be the ages of the astronaut and her son when she returns?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The child is unaffected by the effects of traveling at high speed and thus will be 2x40/0.9 years old = 88.89=90 years old. I'm not well enough versed in relativistic effects to calculate the age of the astronaut.
 
To find the age of the astronaut, use the time dilation formula. (She can be viewed as a moving clock.)
 
what would her son's age be then?..is it 80 years +(0.02)(40years)=80.8years??
 
it's how long it would take from the sons perspective for her to get there. That is simple. it takes light 40 years to get there and she is traveling 0.9 times the speed of light so it would, using simple speed/time/distance type workings 40/0.9 = 44.445 years to get there. Then she has to travel back so you double it giving 88.89.
 
makes sense:) thankyou
 

Similar threads

Specialy theory of relativity [Answer Check]
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Time Dialation-Theory of Relativity
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
Time Dilation, calculate the age of the returning astronaut
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
Astronaut travels to distant planet, finding age?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Time Dilation/Twin paradox Question
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
How Does Time Dilation Affect Communication and Aging in Space Travel?
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
5K
How Can Tom Calculate Time Dilation and TV Transmission in Special Relativity?
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
1K
SR - Time dilation, space-time diagram, and radio signals
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Special relativity question: space travel and relativity of time
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Which Quintuplet Returns to Earth Last Based on Time Dilation Ranking?
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
12K