What is gravitational time dilation?
Q: What is gravitational time dilation?
A: Gravitational time dilation is a physics concept about changes in the passage of time, caused by general relativity. It occurs when heavy objects like planets create a gravitational field that slows down time nearby.
Q: How does it differ from special relativity?
A: Special relativity states that fast objects move more slowly through time, while gravitational time dilation says that clocks near a strong gravitational field run slower than clocks in a weaker gravitational field.
Q: What happens to clocks on the International Space Station (ISS)?
A: Because the ISS is in low Earth orbit (LEO), its speed causes more slowing down of its clock than speeding up due to gravity. This means that a clock on it is slowed down more than it is sped up.
Q: How does Geostationary orbit affect clocks?
A: An object in Geostationary orbit moves less quickly and is farther away from Earth, so gravitational time dilation is stronger, and clocks move more quickly than in LEO.
Q: What do engineers need to consider when picking different clocks for different orbits?
A: Engineers need to pick different clocks for different orbits depending on how much they are affected by gravity or speed due to their position and distance from Earth's surface.
Q: How does GPS satellites work with regards to both kinds of time dilation?
A: GPS satellites work because they know about both kinds of time dilation - special relativity and general relativity - which allows them to accurately measure distances between locations on Earth's surface despite differences in gravity or speed due to their positions and distances from Earth's surface.
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