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all rights reserved 2002
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Experiments --> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Conclusions
An
Obvious Objection Objection:
He says my clock slows down and that my distances shrink when I know that it is
really his time and space that are changing. Answer:
Actually, there is no contradiction to each of us observing the other's clocks
and distances changing. There would only be a contradiction if both of us were
making our measurements from the same frame of reference and then arrived at
different results. However, in order to be in the same frame of reference, one
of us would have to alter his motion in order to bring it in line with the other
person's. When this happens, extra forces are brought into play and that person
is no longer moving with a constant velocity with respect to us. This destroys
the symmetry of the situation, and results in one of us definitely having a
slower clock. Experimental Verification:
Several relativistic effects have been confirmed experimentally. For example,
highly accurate atomic clocks have been synchronized with one another and then
one has been flown at high speeds in a jet for a sufficient length of time, and
when compared with each other again, less time is found to have passed on the
clock that was moving at high speeds. It has also been observed that atomic
particles decay more slowly when moving at high speeds as predicted by
relativity. In addition, many other experiments have been performed over the
years that provide ample verification of the predictions of relativity. Final Conclusions:
Space and time are stranger than we imagine, and our usual ideas of space and
time are just as inaccurate as the belief that people once had that the earth is
flat. Much of our confusion results from the assumption that time and space are
things that exist independently of objects. However, try to imagine a universe
in which no objects exist. In such a universe there would be no points of
reference from which to measure the passage of time or distances in space. In
such an existence, time and space would only exist as mental constructs. Thus,
if we can accept that time is only a measurement that is made of the separation
between parts of an observed sequence of events and that distance is only
a measurement of the separation between events that are observed to occur
at the same time, then it is not so surprising that observers in different
frames of reference will measure these things differently. In other words, the
universe is relatively . . . interesting! |