In 1905, Albert Einstein determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers, and that the speed of light in a vacuum was “independent of the motion of all observers”. This was the theory of special relativity. It introduced new ideas for all of physics and changed how we view space and time.
Albert Einstein, in his theory of special relativity, determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-moving observers, and he showed that the speed of light within a vacuum is the same no matter the speed at which an observer travels. As a result, he found that space and time were one thing not a two separate things; this is what we call space-time. Events that occur at the same time for one observer could occur at different times for another this is gonna be hard to understand so buckle up.
As he worked out the equations for his general theory of relativity, Einstein realized that objects with more mass caused a distortion in space-time. Imagine sitting in the center of a trampoline. Your body would press down the trampoline, causing a dimple. A ball rolled around the edge would spiral inward toward the body, pulled in just like the gravity of the sun attracts the planets. This makes you think of gravity in a completely different way because gravity isn’t just some strange force that pulls things closer.
This an example of how gravity works and how it distorts space time.
Einstein’s theory of relativity, time dilation describes “a difference of elapsed time between two events, as measured by observers that are either moving relative to each other, or differently, depending on their proximity to a gravitational mass”. It’s basically saying that the closer an object gets to the speed of light the slower time would be relative to that object.
As you can see you won’t experience a major difference in time or technically “time travel” until about 70% the speed of light once you reach that time for you will go much slower and time for everything not going that speed will remain the same. It’s an amazing thing to think about.
Then lastly there is Gravitational time dilation Which is a form of time dilation, we’ve all experienced this you just don’t know that you have. We are tied to the earth’s gravity and the closer you are to the core of the earth the slower time is for you although the difference is very very small from someone in a plane or y’all building it’s still happening. Black holes make this really interesting because due to gravitational time dilation, an object falling into a black hole appears to slow as it approaches the event horizon, taking an infinite time to reach it. This happens because the gravity is so strong and gravity is able to warp space and time.
Hopefully you enjoyed this topic I know I always enjoy talking about it. It really makes you think about what has yet to be discovered.
More info: https://youtu.be/AInCqm5nCzw
Source: https://www.space.com/amp/42641-einstein-gravitational-time-dilation-galileo-probes.html
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