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I am interested in exploring time dilation effects. I came across a video and I learned that when we move a light clock in constant velocity the light bounce will take a longer time with more speed. By looking from a Pythagoras view, it makes sense. But,

  1. First of all, why does the light move along with the light clock? Why will it not bounce on the sides?
  2. Let’s assume that it moves along with clock: so why do we consider that light has travelled more distance? Yes, light travelled more distance, but in one axis by its own speed and other in the other axis by the inertia of the clock.

How does this prove that time has slowed as it’s only light and the light bouncing has slowed.

I looked for exploring time dilation.

rghome
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Spectamin Bilal Ayub
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  • Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. – Community Nov 30 '22 at 15:31

1 Answers1

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The first thing to remember is that the clock slows in the frame of reference of an observer seeing the clock move. For someone moving with the clock, the clock ticks at its normal rate.

But apart from that, both observers agree that the clock works and they agree how it works.

You haven't shown the illustration of the light clock, but I am assuming it is the usual one with a light beam travelling up vertically and bouncing off a mirror, while the clock moves horizontally.

To address your specific questions:

  1. The light in the clock has to do the same thing in both frames of reference. That is, it moves towards the mirror, bounces off it and returns. It does this whether the clock is stationary or moving. Otherwise, the observers would see the clock do completely different things, and that is not possible. The same thing would happen with a gun if you moved it sideways and fired it: the bullet would come out moving sideways somewhat also. (However, with light, its total speed is always $C$).

  2. You can see from the Pythagoras diagram that the light travels further along the long edge of the triangle if it is moving than it would move (on the vertical short edge) if it was stationary. If the light travels further, then it takes longer to do each "tick" and so the clock ticks slower.

The question you are now going to ask is why this makes time slower. I suggest you read this answer here for that explanation:

How does Time Dilation Really Work?

rghome
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