pm me, dont feel like ti getting flamed here, i got a "basic" understanding, but there is some parts that arent connecting to me.
THANKS!

Essentially, time slows down for a person moving very quickly. If two babies are born on the same day and one is flown out into outer space at near-light speeds, time on Earth could be several years while time for the baby will only be a few weeks, because time slowed down for the space-baby.

One good example is at three-quarters the speed of light. If the baby moves at 3/4 of the speed of light, space-baby will experience one year of time, while stationary earth-baby will experience two years of time, so earth-baby will be twice as old as space-baby when space-baby finally gets back.

i know this
there are other question i have with this

Okay, what questions? I don't want to fill my message box

kk ly=lightyear
imma use a lil differrent example for better illistration
so jimmy and tim are both on planet A
timwants to go to planet B 10 ly away.
so he gets a ship that can go 99.99999999% lightspeed ( + lightspeed is "immpossible" no?)
so he goes to planet be, takes just over 10 years from jimmysstandpoint for him to get there right?

doesnt look like he is coming back so for the sake of it:
yes it does



so for jimmy its 10 years
but tim barely aged, maybe .1 years...
so he covered 10ly in what he see's as .1 years?

This post was edited by djeb081292 on Jan 25 2011 01:36am

Well, no. That's another aspect of relativity -- length contraction in the direction that you're going. When you're traveling at near-light speed, the distance you see yourself traveling shrinks when compared to the distance you're traveling with respect to an at-rest observer.

So, without using the actual equations, if you assume Tim sees himself taking 0.1 years to travel that distance at very close to the speed of light, then by using the length contraction formula, Tim will have seen himself as traveling a distance of only about 0.1 ly.

... but he ACTUALLY went 10ly ( a real distance no?)

Once he's at rest again after reaching Planet B, he'll be able to measure the distance that he actually traveled as 10 ly, so yes, he actually traveled 10 full lightyears.

so the distance changes as he goes faster?
cuz what im see'ing (if we majorlly simplify)
lets say 10 ly is 10 miles
but cuz he is going uber fast he only see's it at .1 miles?
so he shrinks it? changes an actual distance?

This post was edited by djeb081292 on Jan 25 2011 01:47am

This is why reference frames can be a bit confusing.

While he's moving, he sees himself as moving just 0.1 miles, while someone that's not moving at all will see him going the full 10 miles. He has DEFINITELY traveled that 10 miles. The length contraction and time dilation work hand-in-hand to explain the fact that distance = speed * time.