Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Gravitational time dilation is a form of time dilation, an actual difference of elapsed time between two events, as measured by observers situated at varying distances from a gravitating mass. The lower the gravitational potential (the closer the clock is to the source of gravitation), the slower time passes, speeding up as the gravitational ...
Time dilation is the difference in elapsed time as measured by two clocks, either because of a relative velocity between them (special relativity), or a difference in gravitational potential between their locations (general relativity). When unspecified, "time dilation" usually refers to the effect due to velocity.
Objects are falling to the floor because the room is aboard a rocket in space, which is accelerating at 9.81 m/s 2, the standard gravity on Earth, and is far from any source of gravity. The objects are being pulled towards the floor by the same "inertial force" that presses the driver of an accelerating car into the back of their seat.
Also, gravitational time dilation was measured from a difference in elevation between two clocks of only 33 cm (13 in). [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Presently both gravitational and velocity effects are routinely incorporated, for example, into the calculations used for the Global Positioning System .
[5] [8] A gravitational redshift can also equivalently be interpreted as gravitational time dilation at the source of the radiation: [8] [2] if two oscillators (attached to transmitters producing electromagnetic radiation) are operating at different gravitational potentials, the oscillator at the higher gravitational potential (farther from the ...
Important vector fields in relativity include the four-velocity, = ˙, which is the coordinate distance travelled per unit of proper time, the four-acceleration = ¨ and the four-current describing the charge and current densities. Other physically important tensor fields in relativity include the following:
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
where c is the speed of light, and Δr and Δt denote differences of the space and time coordinates, respectively, between the events. The choice of signs for s 2 above follows the space-like convention (−+++). A notation like Δr 2 means (Δr) 2. The reason s 2 and not s is called the interval is that s 2 can be positive, zero or negative.