Comment on Ask an experimental physicist

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 01:11:46 GMT

That the classical value is always higher than the time-slowed value is precisely what doesn't make sense to me.

If -1/4 is the classical value, and -2/7 is the relativity value, -2/7 is a faster speed than -1/4, even though -1/4 is a bigger number. So the relativity speed is faster. However, if 3/4 is the classical value, and 2/3 is the relativity value, 3/4 is a faster speed relative to me than 2/3. So in this case, the classical speed is faster.

So when I have a speed of 1/2, time slowing down makes the relative speed of the ball greater. And when I have a speed of -1/2, time slowing down makes the relative speed of the ball smaller. More generally, this can be described by my direction relative to the ball. If I'm moving in the same direction as the ball, time slowing down makes it appear to go faster than the classical speed. However, if I'm going in the opposite direction of the ball, then it appears to go slower than the classical speed. And that doesn't make sense. Time slowing down should always make the ball appear to go faster than the classical speed, and the effects of time slowing down should definitely should not depend on my direction relative to the ball.

Discuss