5 ms·
If the planet is 20 light years away, you're saying we could reach it in less than a year if we attain a velocity of 0.9999c? Yes. In the reference frame
by Confusion 15y ago
If the planet is 20 light years away, you're saying we
could reach it in less than a year if we attain a velocity
of 0.9999c?
Yes. In the reference frame of the traveler, very little time passes. However, when he returns, people on earth will have aged more than 40 years.
This is also why particles traveling at c cannot possibly decay: no time passes for them. A photon is everywhere at once, from its own point if view.
- aik 15y agoAmazing. I hope to some day wake up and have a deep conceptual understanding of the relationship between velocity and time in relation to the various bodies at play. I also hope to have an understanding of what it means for a photon to be everywhere at once, from its own point of view. In the end, I guess I just want to understand the universe just a bit more than I do.
- dodo53 15y agoSpecial relativity is actually quite accessible and really interesting - find a good book or set of lectures on iTunes U or something. (General relativity, the generalised version including acceleration and gravity, is what makes people think relativity is hard).
- shazow 15y agoThis is also why particles traveling at c cannot possibly decay: no time passes for them. A photon is everywhere at once, from its own point if view. That's a really great explanation. For the first time, I've been able to visualize how light can be both a particle and a wave. Thank you.
- DavidSJ 15y agoTime dilation (special relativity) has nothing to do with wave-particle duality (quantum physics). The infinite time dilation of photons is due to their velocity, not their wave-like nature. Furthermore, all particles (electrons, protons, quarks, etc.) have wave-particle duality just as much as photons do.