MadSci Network: Physics |
Adam's dad writes: My 9-year old son, Adam, and I have been puzzling over a question relating to the theory of Relativity. I had been explaining to him (as well as I understand it) the relationship between space and time, illustrating it with Einstein's own example of a tram travelling on a beam of light away from a clock tower whose clock face shows 'noon'. I had explained to him that, travelling away from the clock at the speed of light, the time on the clock would perpetually be noon, since the light from the clock would never catch up with the traveller. Here is the question we've been puzzling over: Suppose there are two clocks, 186000 miles apart, both showing 'noon'. Travelling at the speed of light, it will take me one second to get from the one to the other, at which moment the clock from which I started will still show noon. But what time will I see on the face of the clock at my destination?
Re: Time and the speed of light
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