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Hi All
The effects of Relativistic speeds are not dependent on acceleration.
It is the speed that counts.
the faster to the speed of light you travel 3 things occour. Time slows down Mass increases and size decreases from a NON relativistic standpoint.
What does that mean??????
You are standing on a stationary platform in orbit about the earth and you are watching a spaceship traveling at very near the speed of light. In the window you can see a clock. That clock is ticking slower than the clock standing next to you.
At the same time your viewer devise that allows you to see into the ship is able to measure sizes of objects. you set the viewer on a 1 meter ruler that is lying conveniently next to the clock. your viewer measure the ruler to be SMALLER than 1 meter.
also at the same time your viewer devise is able to accuratly measure the mass of the ruler which you know is a standard metric kilo. the viewer tells you that the rulers mass is MORE than a kilo.
so from YOUR perspective the time on the ship is travelling slower, the mass of the ship is increasing and the size of the ship is shrinking.
an observer on the ship notices NOTHING ON THE SHIP, but if the man on th ship was to look out the window and observe you he would notice that the clock next to you the stationary observer would be ticking FASTER than the clock next to him. He would also notice that the viewer he was using would be telling him that your mass is less and that your size was expanding.
Acceleration does not come into the picture. once you are traveling at the spoeed of say 99.99999999% the speed of light relativistic effects are already taking place. they will not change till you slow down.
this is an observable effect.
In a particle accelerator certain particles have a limited lifespan. The Neutron lasts for about 11 seconds on its own before it decays into a proton and an electron and a neutrino. In a particle accelerator a neutron has been seen to last for several minutes.this is time dilation. The mass of a neutron is known and can be measured by impact. the measurement of the neutron that was travelling at 99.999999999% of light speed impacts with more mass than it should. this is mass dilation. Measuring the size of the particle is beyond science at the moment but since the first two effects of relativity have been accuratly measured, and are in complete accordance with prediction I will assume that it inly a matter of time .
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