B Time dilation and 2 identical clocks

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The discussion revolves around the concept of time dilation using two identical clocks, one stationary and one moving at velocity v. It highlights that an observer will perceive the moving clock as ticking slower due to the light traveling a longer path in a triangular trajectory. The participants debate the validity of a proposed clock design that lacks a cyclic mechanism, emphasizing that proper time measurement requires synchronization and co-location of events. They conclude that without a feedback loop or a return mechanism, the proposed setup cannot function as a true clock. Ultimately, the analysis confirms that time dilation effects remain consistent regardless of the specific clock design used.
  • #61
Ross Arden said:
If u cook and egg for 1 minute and then 2 hours later u cook a second egg for an 50 minutes, and then compare them...u can figure the rest out
But this has nothing to do with any scenario you have presented. I don't understand why you bring it up.
 
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  • #62
Ill start again. See the pic
a = counter
c = light tube
b = egg timer
d is a light that pulses each time a grain falls thru the egg timer
L2 is the length of the light tube
L1 is the length of the egg timer
there are 2 identical arrangements, one in a space ship, one at rest wrt an observer external to the space. The spaceship is moving relative to arrangement 2 at v in the direction of v ...any questions ?
 
  • #63
the pic, the oval is an egg and the small red line under the egg is a heat source
 

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  • #64
Your diagram doesn't appear to show length contraction of the apparatus in the moving ship. Assuming you understand that it should be length contracted, or that you've deliberately ignored length contraction for some reason, fine.
 
  • #65
Ibix said:
Your diagram doesn't appear to show length contraction of the apparatus in the moving ship. Assuming you understand that it should be length contracted, or that you've deliberately ignored length contraction for some reason, fine.
I have ignored length contraction
 
  • #66
Ross Arden said:
I have ignored length contraction
That may come back to bite, depending on where you're going with this, but fine for now. Go on.
 
  • #67
so won't the external observer perceive the egg timer in the spaceship to be running faster than the egg timer at rest wrt the observer ?
 
  • #68
Ross, can you please use proper English and not text speak? People are already struggling to figure out what you mean; please don't make it any harder.
 
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  • #69
BTW as there is no gravity the egg timer works of pressurized air. So if there is length contraction, as there will be less volume, the egg timer in the spaceship will have a higher pressure than the at rest one
 
  • #70
Vanadium 50 said:
Ross, can you please use proper English and not text speak? People are already struggling to figure out what you mean; please don't make it any harder.
okay
 
  • #71
Ross Arden said:
BTW as there is no gravity the egg timer works of pressurized air. So if there is length contraction, as there will be less volume, the egg timer in the spaceship will have a higher pressure than the at rest one
That is not correct.
 
  • #72
jbriggs444 said:
That is not correct.
if the 2 egg timers have a pressure chamber volume of 1000cc and are pressurised up to a pressure of 50 kg/cm^2
egg timer 2 is then put in the space ship, it blasts off and is moving relative to the observer
wont the observer observe length contraction so the amount of air is constant but the 1000 cc will now be observed to be less than 1000cc ergo same amount of air in a smaller volume = higher pressure ?
 
  • #73
Ross Arden said:
Im just interested in comparing how under,over, the saem the eggs are cooked timer 1 times egg 1 timer 2 times egg 2...so in short no

Then all you have to do is decide how you like your eggs cooked. If a 3-minute egg is what you desire, then set Timer 1 to three minutes and cook Egg 1. Set Timer 2 to three minutes and cook Egg 2. Each egg will then be cooked just right, neither will be under-cooked or over-cooked. Of course, if you like your eggs cooked for a longer or shorter time you will adjust accordingly.

None of this has anything to do with your OP. In that post you show a person at rest viewing a clock in motion.

Ross Arden said:
If u cook and egg for 1 minute @ 100 degrees C and then 2 hours later u cook a second egg for 50 minutes @ 100 degrees C, in a moving spaceship wrt egg 1, and then compare the eggs...u can figure the rest out

Yes, but you started this thread by saying there was something YOU couldn't figure out.

I know that an egg cooked for 1 minute will be underdone and an egg cooked for 50 minutes will be overdone. It makes no difference how fast those eggs are moving when I do it, as long as the clocks I use are moving alongside the eggs.

The theory of relativity enters our thoughts when we try to understand how a clock that's in motion relative to us behaves. If we try to use a moving clock to time the cooking of a stationary egg then the issue you raised in your OP will have to be tackled. Otherwise it won't!

But keep in mind that if you do want to tackle it you will need to address the issues I raised before, issues that you said you don't understand. If you want to understand them you can't just give up there. You will need to explain which parts of it you don't understand. Otherwise, how can we help you?
 
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  • #74
Mister T said:
Then all you have to do is decide how you like your eggs cooked. If a 3-minute egg is what you desire, then set Timer 1 to three minutes and cook Egg 1. Set Timer 2 to three minutes and cook Egg 2. Each egg will then be cooked just right, neither will be under-cooked or over-cooked. Of course, if you like your eggs cooked for a longer or shorter time you will adjust accordingly.

None of this has anything to do with your OP. In that post you show a person at rest viewing a clock in motion.
Yes, but you started this thread by saying there was something YOU couldn't figure out.

I know that an egg cooked for 1 minute will be underdone and an egg cooked for 50 minutes will be overdone. It makes no difference how fast those eggs are moving when I do it, as long as the clocks I use are moving alongside the eggs.

The theory of relativity enters our thoughts when we try to understand how a clock that's in motion relative to us behaves. If we try to use a moving clock to time the cooking of a stationary egg then the issue you raised in your OP will have to be tackled. Otherwise it won't!

But keep in mind that if you do want to tackle it you will need to address the issues I raised before, issues that you said you don't understand. If you want to understand them you can't just give up there. You will need to explain which parts of it you don't understand. Otherwise, how can we help you?
I repostsed the OP and made it simpler, as simple as I could, as it appears people had no idea what I was talking about
 
  • #75
Ross Arden said:
so won't the external observer perceive the egg timer in the spaceship to be running faster than the egg timer at rest wrt the observer ?

No. Slower. If the light clock ticks 1000 times during the time that the egg cooks, then that's what it will do regardless of its state of motion. If it's in motion relative to some observer then those 1000 ticks will take longer than 1000 ticks on an identical clock at rest with respect to the observer, but the egg will still take 1000 ticks to cook.
 
  • #76
Mister T said:
No. Slower. If the light clock ticks 1000 times during the time that the egg cooks, then that's what it will do regardless of its state of motion. If it's in motion relative to some observer then those 1000 ticks will take longer than 1000 ticks on an identical clock at rest with respect to the observer, but the egg will still take 1000 ticks to cook.

according to the external observer

the spaceship with the egg timer inside is moving to the right at v
a grain from the egg timer leaves the neck of the egg timer at t1
it arrives at the base of the egg timer at time t2
in the time it takes for the grain to leave the neck and arrive at the base the spaceship has moved a distance of v x (t2-t1) to the right
if the length from the neck to the base of the egg timer is L
the distance traveled by the grain will be L - (v x (t2-t1))
the grain moves at a velocity x (this is constant for both egg timers)

the time taken for the grain in the space ship, according to the external observer, will be distance/velocity = (L - (v x (t2-t1))) /x

The observer then looks at the egg timer next to him and measures the time for a grain to hit the base to be
L/x

but L/x > (L - (v x (t2-t1))) /x

is that right?

is the error the velocity of the spaceship minuses from the velocity of the grain?

if that was the case what if the grains were replaced by tunneling photons
 
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  • #77
Ross Arden said:
the time is compared by the degree of cooking of the egg, simply compare egg one with egg 2. Nothing need to be synchonised.
That is the proper time of the eggs.

Ross Arden said:
Nothing need to be synchonised.
If you are not interested in comparing spatially separated events then there is no need for synchronization or coordinate time. In your opening post it sure seemed like you wanted to do that kind of comparison.

If not, then I am not sure what your question is. If you cook an egg according to an egg timer that is comoving with the egg then it will be cooked to the same level of doneness. That is proper time.

Ross Arden said:
If u cook
Please don’t use “u” as shorthand for “you”. It is distracting here since there are many physics formulas that traditionally use “u” as a variable.

Ross Arden said:
if one egg timer is ticking slower than the other one
FYI, here is where you are comparing spatially separated events and you need a synchronization convention. This is coordinate time.

Time dilation is what happens when you compare the proper time of a clock to the coordinate time in a reference frame where it is moving.
 
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  • #78
Ross Arden said:
the grain moves at a velocity x (this is constant for both egg timers)

Not possible. The timers are moving relative to each other.
 
  • #79
Ross Arden said:
the time taken for the grain in the space ship, according to the external observer, will be

1. Can the external observer measure that elapsed time without knowing the reading on his clock when the grain begins to fall and the reading on his clock when the grain lands?

2. Because to take those two readings he will have a difficulty. If he's next to the grain when it begins to fall he can take a clock reading, but when the grain lands his clock will be far away from the grain, so how can he determine that clock reading?

3. He will need some kind of signalling device to send a signal from the place where the grain lands to the place where his clock is located. And he will have to subtract off the travel time of the signal to find out what time it was at the place where the grain landed at the time that it landed. In other words, he will need to know what time it was at that place when the grain landed. This is the process we're referring to when we speak of synchronizing distant clocks. It's what you have to do if you want to use a clock located here to find out what time it is over there.

If you don't understand the above please explain where it was you first started to not understand. Was it the paragraph labelled 1, 2, or 3?
 
  • #80
Ross Arden said:
if the 2 egg timers have a pressure chamber volume of 1000cc and are pressurised up to a pressure of 50 kg/cm^2
egg timer 2 is then put in the space ship, it blasts off and is moving relative to the observer
wont the observer observe length contraction so the amount of air is constant but the 1000 cc will now be observed to be less than 1000cc ergo same amount of air in a smaller volume = higher pressure ?
No.
 
  • #81
jbriggs444 said:
No.
Okay thanks you have been very helpful
 
  • #82
Mister T said:
1. Can the external observer measure that elapsed time without knowing the reading on his clock when the grain begins to fall and the reading on his clock when the grain lands?

2. Because to take those two readings he will have a difficulty. If he's next to the grain when it begins to fall he can take a clock reading, but when the grain lands his clock will be far away from the grain, so how can he determine that clock reading?

3. He will need some kind of signalling device to send a signal from the place where the grain lands to the place where his clock is located. And he will have to subtract off the travel time of the signal to find out what time it was at the place where the grain landed at the time that it landed. In other words, he will need to know what time it was at that place when the grain landed. This is the process we're referring to when we speak of synchronizing distant clocks. It's what you have to do if you want to use a clock located here to find out what time it is over there.

If you don't understand the above please explain where it was you first started to not understand. Was it the paragraph labelled 1, 2, or 3?
Oh Okay so the observer could fire a laser at the spaceship to determine how far away it was. A second laser pulse now the observer has direction, distance and speed of the space ship. Then he could start his stop watch when the first pulse arrives from the spaceship and stop his stop watch when the last pulse arrives, allow for distance, speed and direction of the space ship, and compare that to his local egg timer ?
 
  • #83
Mister T said:
1. Can the external observer measure that elapsed time without knowing the reading on his clock when the grain begins to fall and the reading on his clock when the grain lands?

wont the elapsed time be (L-(v(delta t))/x. if he knows L, x and v can't he calculate delta t ?
 
  • #84
Ross Arden said:
Oh Okay so the observer could fire a laser at the spaceship to determine how far away it was. A second laser pulse now the observer has direction, distance and speed of the space ship. Then he could start his stop watch when the first pulse arrives from the spaceship and stop his stop watch when the last pulse arrives, allow for distance, speed and direction of the space ship, and compare that to his local egg timer ?
Yes, this would be coordinate time. He is using a synchronization convention to determine the time at a distant location.
 
  • #85
Ross Arden said:
wont the elapsed time be (L-(v(delta t))/x. if he knows L, x and v can't he calculate delta t ?

If ##\Delta t## is the proper time, that is the time as measured by the observer aboard the rocket ship, the elapsed time measured by your external observer would be ##\frac{\Delta t}{\sqrt{1-(v/c)^2}}##.

But regardless of the nature of the relationship between them, the answer is yes, given one you can calculate the other.

Note that to do so your external observer will need to measure the speed ##v## of the rocket ship, so again he needs to know what time it is on his clock when the rocket ship is at some distant location to make that measurement.


(By the way, use LaTeX to express your mathematical expressions so that things like (L-(v(delta t))/x become ##\frac{L-v \Delta t}{x}##. To see how just quote this message in your response and you'll see the LaTeX coding. Otherwise people will not be reading those expressions.)
 
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  • #86
Mister T said:
If ##\Delta t## is the proper time, that is the time as measured by the observer aboard the rocket ship, the elapsed time measured by your external observer would be ##\frac{\Delta t}{\sqrt{1-(v/c)^2}}##.

But regardless of the nature of the relationship between them, the answer is yes, given one you can calculate the other.

Note that to do so your external observer will need to measure the speed ##v## of the rocket ship, so again he needs to know what time it is on his clock when the rocket ship is at some distant location to make that measurement.


(By the way, use LaTeX to express your mathematical expressions so that things like (L-(v(delta t))/x become ##\frac{L-v \Delta t}{x}##. To see how just quote this message in your response and you'll see the LaTeX coding. Otherwise people will not be reading those expressions.)

there is no observer on the ship

The observer external to the ship will percieve the egg timer on the ship as ticking faster than the egg timer at rest wrt the observer

there is not "diagonal" of a right triangle in my example so there won't be a square root of anything ##\frac{\Delta t}{\sqrt{1-(v/c)^2}}##.it is all straight lines

there is no "triangle" full stop so how you can have a triangle calculation ##{\sqrt{1-(v/c)^2}}##.is beyond me
 
  • #87
Ross Arden said:
there is no observer on the ship

It's the time that elapses on the clock that's aboard the ship. Even when there's no observer present.

The observer external to the ship will percieve the egg timer on the ship as ticking faster than the egg timer at rest wrt the observer

Do you have a reference to support that claim? Because theory predicts, and experiments confirm, that it runs slower.

there is not "diagonal" of a right triangle in my example so there won't be a square root of anything ##\frac{\Delta t}{\sqrt{1-(v/c)^2}}##.it is all straight lines

You don't need diagonals to get square roots. That's the expression predicted from theory and confirmed by experiment.
 
  • #88
Ross Arden said:
there is no observer on the ship
Then does it really matter if the egg is undercooked?

Ross Arden said:
The observer external to the ship will percieve the egg timer on the ship as ticking faster than the egg timer at rest wrt the observer
No. The moving egg timer will tick slower than the resting egg timer in the observers frame
 
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  • #89
Ross Arden said:
there is not "diagonal" of a right triangle in my example
Note that it's a trivial matter to add light clocks to your experiment wherever we want them, thereby introducing "diagonal paths" wherever we want them. Not trying to measure something doesn't mean it's not there. Unless you are trying to argue that your experiment works differently depending on whether a clock is present or not, your quoted statement boils down to "if I don't look at a clock it won't tick normally".
 
  • #90
I am afraid that some of the responses here are overly complicated. When you make a light clock on your lab bench you can sit next to it a regular clock and choose the length of the arms of the light clock so that it ticks once a second as does the clock next to it. All observers will agree about that synchrony.

If the light clock is in motion relative to another Observer, then that Observer will see the pulse of light traveling in the triangular path that has been discussed. . He will conclude that the ticking of that light clock takes longer than one second. He will also comclude that the regular clock in synchrony with the light clock is also running slow . His only consistent conclusion is it all of your clocks in the lab are running slow.

That's it.
 
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