- #1
mintparasol
- 78
- 0
Hi everyone,
The good Nick Summers from simplegravity.com directed me here as I'd been pestering him with questions regarding relativity and the structure of the cosmos.
I am neither a mathematician nor physicist. I have no formal training in the sciences beyond high school but have fond memories of physics and chemistry classes where the structure of reality was first outlined to us students about 13-14 years ago. I remember being taught about the structure of the atom, the uncertainty principle, the exclusion principle, valencies, Newtonian mechanics, the gradated complexity of matter from the helium atom up to the heavy metals etc, etc. and thinking to myself at the time 'hey, this makes so much sense!'.
After leaving school, I kept alive my interest in the true nature of reality by trying to come to terms with the special theory of relativity, reading 'A Brief History of Time' and all sorts of physical and metaphysical books by the likes of Fritjof Capra and Robert Pirsig. I still often train my small telescope on planets and the moon and the like and am fascinated with the cosmos, the various explanations of the origins of the universe, the origins of life and so on.
My understanding of relativity needs a lot of work and I'm hoping someone here can answer the following question and perhaps direct me on to any source texts that are available online. This would be a big help in my understanding of the nature of the cosmos and any help would be greatly appreciated.
My question is this:-
Say I have 2 highly accurate clocks in perfect sync sitting side by side on the Earth's' surface. I take one of the clocks and go for a ride in my spaceship to the outer edge of the solar system or some other great distance from the Earth's' gravitational field. The clock I have with me on the spaceship should now be running faster than the clock I've left behind on earth, correct?
So now I return to Earth and place the clocks side by side again. Will the clock I took on my space journey still be ahead of the clock I left behind or will both clocks be showing the exact same time?
I hope my question makes sense and look forward to any replies,
thanks in advance,
ad
The good Nick Summers from simplegravity.com directed me here as I'd been pestering him with questions regarding relativity and the structure of the cosmos.
I am neither a mathematician nor physicist. I have no formal training in the sciences beyond high school but have fond memories of physics and chemistry classes where the structure of reality was first outlined to us students about 13-14 years ago. I remember being taught about the structure of the atom, the uncertainty principle, the exclusion principle, valencies, Newtonian mechanics, the gradated complexity of matter from the helium atom up to the heavy metals etc, etc. and thinking to myself at the time 'hey, this makes so much sense!'.
After leaving school, I kept alive my interest in the true nature of reality by trying to come to terms with the special theory of relativity, reading 'A Brief History of Time' and all sorts of physical and metaphysical books by the likes of Fritjof Capra and Robert Pirsig. I still often train my small telescope on planets and the moon and the like and am fascinated with the cosmos, the various explanations of the origins of the universe, the origins of life and so on.
My understanding of relativity needs a lot of work and I'm hoping someone here can answer the following question and perhaps direct me on to any source texts that are available online. This would be a big help in my understanding of the nature of the cosmos and any help would be greatly appreciated.
My question is this:-
Say I have 2 highly accurate clocks in perfect sync sitting side by side on the Earth's' surface. I take one of the clocks and go for a ride in my spaceship to the outer edge of the solar system or some other great distance from the Earth's' gravitational field. The clock I have with me on the spaceship should now be running faster than the clock I've left behind on earth, correct?
So now I return to Earth and place the clocks side by side again. Will the clock I took on my space journey still be ahead of the clock I left behind or will both clocks be showing the exact same time?
I hope my question makes sense and look forward to any replies,
thanks in advance,
ad