Does Travelling at Light Speed Turn the Time Cone into a Cube?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kokain
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Cone Time
Click For Summary
The discussion centers on the relationship between time, distance, and velocity in the context of traveling at the speed of light (c). It explores how the shape of the "cone" formed by these variables changes with different velocities, illustrating that at lower speeds, the time to reach a destination increases while the cone widens. When traveling at c, the concept of time appears to collapse for the traveler, making the journey seem instantaneous, while an outside observer perceives the journey as taking one year. The confusion arises from reconciling the traveler's experience with that of an observer, highlighting the effects of time dilation and length contraction. Ultimately, the conversation emphasizes the complexities of understanding relativistic travel and its implications on time and space.
kokain
Messages
51
Reaction score
0
Time is on the y-axis and distance is on the x-axis and z-axis. Depending upon your velocity the cone is formed. At, let's say 1/10c, you can reach point "A" in ten years and your cone is narrow, but at 1/5c point "A" is 5 years away and the cone is wider. At 1/2c you could be at point "A" in two years and the cone is extreamly wide. Now here is my question. I see that point "A" is one year away. Correct? Now if you could and if you were traveling at c would it take you one year to reach point "A"? I see the cone at c to be a cube encompassing all volume to the future. If so, you would arrive at point "A" immediatly as you left. Where am I wrong? Is c still a cone? Is infinity(c) the cube that I see. (That's poetry) Anyway, if so it would also encompass the past as well? Now I am more confused than when I started. HELP!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Originally posted by kokain
Time is on the y-axis and distance is on the x-axis and z-axis. Depending upon your velocity the cone is formed. At, let's say 1/10c, you can reach point "A" in ten years and your cone is narrow, but at 1/5c point "A" is 5 years away and the cone is wider. At 1/2c you could be at point "A" in two years and the cone is extreamly wide. Now here is my question. I see that point "A" is one year away. Correct? Now if you could and if you were traveling at c would it take you one year to reach point "A"? I see the cone at c to be a cube encompassing all volume to the future. If so, you would arrive at point "A" immediatly as you left. Where am I wrong? Is c still a cone? Is infinity(c) the cube that I see. (That's poetry) Anyway, if so it would also encompass the past as well? Now I am more confused than when I started. HELP!

If I'm visualising your chart correctly, then it looks like what you've got there is a graph of length contraction (the flip-side of time dilation). To you, the time it takes to make the trip is indeed measured as 0, because the distance of the trip appears as 0 when you travel at lightspeed. However, to an outside observer, the distance was one lightyear, and the trip took you one year. But throughout that time and across that distance, you appear to them as frozen in time.
 
I do not have a good working knowledge of physics yet. I tried to piece this together but after researching this, I couldn’t figure out the correct laws of physics to combine to develop a formula to answer this question. Ex. 1 - A moving object impacts a static object at a constant velocity. Ex. 2 - A moving object impacts a static object at the same velocity but is accelerating at the moment of impact. Assuming the mass of the objects is the same and the velocity at the moment of impact...

Similar threads

  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
4K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
5K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
1K
  • · Replies 58 ·
2
Replies
58
Views
6K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K