# Why does time slow down the faster you go?

May 30, 2018

Time is a variable It can be changed

#### Explanation:

Einstein is his vision that led to the theory of relativity visualized a clock. The light from the clock was chasing the observer as the observer moved away from the clock. When the observer was traveling as rapidly as the light the time observed on the clock stopped. The light could no longer reach the observer with a new time. .

This seems analogous to the Doppler effect As the sound waves approach an observer the wavelengths are pushed closer together causing the frequency to increase. As the sound waves move away from the observer the sound waves are speed apart causing the frequency to decrease. As light is spread out by the observer moving away from the source of the light time is decreased. The faster the observer moves the more light is spread out and time slows down.

May 31, 2018

Time slows down as you travel faster because momentum bends the fabric of spacetime causing time to pass slower.

#### Explanation:

Time is the fourth dimension of spacetime. Spacetime itself is curved by the presence of energy. Energy being mass, momentum and even light. The more curved spacetime is the slower time passes.

Albert Einstein described this in his field equations.

${G}_{\mu \nu} = \frac{8 \pi}{c} ^ 4 {T}_{\mu \nu}$

The $G$ term, which is the Einstein tensor, describes how spacetime is curved. The $T$ term, which is the stress-energy tensor, describes the mass, energy and momentum which causes spacetime to curve.

The faster you go the bigger the $T$ term becomes. This has the effect of making spacetime more curved. Think of it as stretching the time dimension which makes time pass more slowly.